Love and the Brain

[Diana Kyle]

Hello Tipsters,   Some interesting work was announced at a recent meeting of neuroscientists.  It seems that several regions of the brain are activated when people are madly in love.    Here's what one press release mentioned:   While looking at photographs of their boyfriend or girlfriend and of three close friends, the volunteers were subjected to brain scans that detect regions of activity. "We found that the emotional response was greater--an increase in blood flow to specific regions of the brain--when they looked at photos of the person they were in love with," Bartels explained. Specifically, four regions, found in the part of the brain known as the limbic region, were activated. The measurements also showed that looking at a picture of the loved-one reduced activity in other regions, such as the neocortex, an area associated with feelings of depression. For those interested, here's the location of the press release.  http://www.brain.com/about/article.cfm?id=17901&cat_id=400     Diana Kyle, M.A. Psychology Department Fullerton College Fullerton, California   Office Phone:  714-992-7166