Aalto University researchers found parental love generates the strongest brain response in comparison to other forms of love.

Aalto University researchers found that parental love, measured through MRI scans, elicits the strongest brain response and activates the most areas compared to romantic love, love for friends, pets, strangers, and nature. The study, which involved 55 participants, aimed to identify the neural mechanisms of love, potentially enhancing mental health care. Different types of love activate distinct areas of the human brain, with parental love showing the most activation in the striatum area when imagining love. Brain activity is influenced by the closeness of the object of love and whether it is a human, another species, or nature, highlighting the varying intensities of love we feel for different people and things in our lives. Understanding the neural basis of love could have significant implications for human well-being and inform treatments for conditions like depression or anxiety, where feelings of love and connection are often impaired.

August 26, 2024
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