2013-12-10
Love really does change your brain. Monogamous prairie voles are known to have higher levels of oxytocin receptors than promiscuous montane voles. However, if the latter are dosed with oxytocin, they adopt the monogamous behavior of their prairie cousins. Therefore, oxytocin seems to have an important role in social bonding. But now, researchers from the University Clinic in Bonn, the University of Chengdu in China, and Biopsychologists from Bochum have performed a new experiment that suggests oxytocin stimulates the reward center in the male brain, increasing partner attractiveness and strengthening monogamy. Their study included 40 young men, all of whom had been in a relationship for at least six months and reported being passionately in love with their partners. While in a brain scanner, they either inhaled oxytocin or placebo via nasal spray while they viewed pictures of either their partners, women they knew but were not dating or women they had never met. The pictures were matched so that comparison women had been rated by independent observers as being equally attractive as the partners. In the men who were given oxytocin, the reward system (ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens) lit up when they saw pictures of the women they loved — but not when they looked at strangers. Some of these regions were also activated by the images of the women the men knew, but not as strongly as by the pictures of their loved ones, suggesting that it made their partners more desirable. In other words, familiarity is not enough to prompt the bonding effect of oxytocin. They must be loving couples. These results suggest that oxytocin could contribute to romantic bonds in men by enhancing their partner’s attractiveness and reward value compared with other women.
Love really does change your brain. Monogamous prairie voles are known to have higher levels of oxytocin receptors than promiscuous montane voles. However, if the latter are dosed with oxytocin, they adopt the monogamous behavior of their prairie cousins. Therefore, oxytocin seems to have an important role in social bonding. But now, researchers from the University Clinic in Bonn, the University of Chengdu in China, and Biopsychologists from Bochum have performed a new experiment that suggests oxytocin stimulates the reward center in the male brain, increasing partner attractiveness and strengthening monogamy. Their study included 40 young men, all of whom had been in a relationship for at least six months and reported being passionately in love with their partners. While in a brain scanner, they either inhaled oxytocin or placebo via nasal spray while they viewed pictures of either their partners, women they knew but were not dating or women they had never met. The pictures were matched so that comparison women had been rated by independent observers as being equally attractive as the partners. In the men who were given oxytocin, the reward system (ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens) lit up when they saw pictures of the women they loved — but not when they looked at strangers. Some of these regions were also activated by the images of the women the men knew, but not as strongly as by the pictures of their loved ones, suggesting that it made their partners more desirable. In other words, familiarity is not enough to prompt the bonding effect of oxytocin. They must be loving couples. These results suggest that oxytocin could contribute to romantic bonds in men by enhancing their partner’s attractiveness and reward value compared with other women.
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Last update: Oct 01, 2023
