Love Actually Neuroscience of Love (Week 5)

Question 1

Neuroscience

Answer 1

The interdisciplinary study of the nervous system

Question 2

Neurobiology

Answer 2

Biology of the nervous system

Question 3

Brain

Answer 3

Have 100 billion neurons

Question 4

Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 4

-Located in the frontal lobe and the neocortex
-Higher thinking/cognitive functions

Question 5

Triune Brain Model/Three Brain System

Answer 5

-reptilian/survival/primal brain
-mammalian/limbic/emotional brian
-neocortical/human/thinking brain

Question 6

The Reptilian/Survival/Primal Brain

Answer 6

-Oldest brain
-The automatic control center of vital survival functions
-Displays of aggression, courtship, mating, and territorial defense
-Does not have much emotional depth but is challenged by recent findings

Question 7

The Mammalian/Limbic/Emotional Brain

Answer 7

-Contains the limbic system
-Center for advanced emotions
-Responsible for enhanced emotion, motivation, learning, and memory

Question 8

what are emotions

Answer 8

-Motivators
-Colors our sensory world and provides greater variety of behavior
-Establishes preferences for people and situations
-Some people are more emotional than others (emotionality)
-Sorts sensory stimulus and sends it to other brain areas

Question 9

The Age of the Mammals

Answer 9

-We’re living in it for the last 65 million years
-Vocal communication and separation cry between mammals and offspring are universal
-Play, activities for pure fun, is unique to mammals

Question 10

Dr Paul Broca

Answer 10

-Named the limbic system from the Latin word limbus, edge
-He named it because he can see the clear line separating the limbic system from the rest of the brain
-Found that it was universal in mammals

Question 11

Limbic Resonance

Answer 11

-The capacity for empathy
-An exchange where two becomes attune to each other’s inner states
-Forms the basis of social connections and therapy

Question 12

The Neocortical/Human/Thinking Brain

Answer 12

-Contains the neocortex; two symmetrical sheets
-Area of the brain responsible for higher order functions such as abstraction, language, use of symbols, etc
-Sensory experiences, awareness, conscious motor control, “free will” occur in the cortex
-Regulates feelings and integrates them with appropriate functions
-Largest and newest of three brains

Question 13

Interactions between the three triune brain

Answer 13

-Can complicate the rules of emotional life and love
-Irrational acts against intuition
-Cannot command emotional life

Question 14

Intuition

Answer 14

-A gut feeling
-Not as popular in the West
-Fundamental piece of relationships

Question 15

Synapse

Answer 15

-Space between neurons where electro signals are being fired from neuron to neuron
-Over 100 trillion synapses, up to 1000 trillion by some estimates

Question 16

Neurotransmitters

Answer 16

Chemicals that transmit signals across synapses from neuron to neurons

Question 17

Dopamine

Answer 17

-Reward
-Activation reinforces the behavior
-Increases when in love, drug usage, food intake, new and fun activities, etc
-Dopamine circuitry in love and in addiction is similar (love is like a drug)

Question 18

Dopamine and Prairie Voles

Answer 18

-Increased dopamine is related to increased attachment
-A female’s dopamine levels increase for a male, forming a distinct preference for this mate
-When antagonists (blockers) are injected, she no longer has this preference
-When agonists (enhancers) are injected, she develops a preference for any male that’s near

Question 19

Dopamine and fMRI

Answer 19

-fMRI scans the brain to register blood activities in specific areas
-Asked couples to look at pictures of faces
-Increase levels of dopamine when seeing lover’s face

Question 20

Norepinephrine

Answer 20

-Regulates strong emotional responses and attention
-Stress hormone involved in the fight or flight response
-Related to a rush of excitement that we have when we see lover
-Effects are manifested in alertness and arousal and has complex influences on reward system

Question 21

Serotonin

Answer 21

-Mood and emotion regulation
-Found throughout the body; primarily in located in the gut
-Lack of is associated with depression, OCD, and anxiety

Question 22

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

Answer 22

-Increases and keeps serotonin in the synapse
-Prozac, zoloft, celexa and lexapro
-Used to treat depression

Question 23

Helen fisher on Serotonin

Answer 23

-hypothesizes that serotonin decreases in love
-Which is why love can be thought of as an obsession; low levels of serotonin is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder
-Says SSRIs can inhibit falling in love (no scientific proof)
-Controversial since it can drive people away from getting the treatment they need

Question 24

Endorphins

Answer 24

-Endogenous Opioids
-Regulate emotional and physical pain along with pleasure, attachment, and sexuality
-Resembles drugs like heroin and morphine
-Increases via physical touch
-Decreases in states of distress
-Activation of endorphins propels the attachment process

Question 25

Oxytocin

Answer 25

-Neurotransmitter and hormone largely involved in bonding behaviors
-“Love”, “cuddle”, “bonding” hormones
-Modulates bonding social behavior and attachment
-Key in parent-infant bonding

Question 26

Oxytocin and Motherhood

Answer 26

-Released into blood during labor, breastfeeding, vaginal stimulation and sex
-Stimulates breast milk production which becomes conditioned
-Oxytocin levels in mothers correlate with secure attachment

Question 27

Oxytocin on Bonding and Attachment

Answer 27

-Highest increase when people are falling in love
-High levels create lasting romantic and platonic relationships
-High levels helps couples stay in sync
-Enhance the security that people feel in their attachment even in insecurely attached individuals
-Protects us against the stressful effects of social isolation (anti-stress effects)
-Lack of have impact on aggression

Question 28

Oxytocin in Animals

Answer 28

-Help rodents stay true to their mates; when blocked the rats get more promiscuous
-Help sheeps take care of lambs; neglects young when blocked

Question 29

Vasopressin

Answer 29

-Works with oxytocin in bonding
-Not sure why vasopressin is related to bonding

Question 30

Oxytocin and Vasopressin Prairie Vole Studies

Answer 30

-Oxytocin lead to increased bonding in females
-Vasopressin lead to increased bonding in males

Question 31

Love Potion #9 Verolabs.com

Answer 31

-Claims to invoke everlasting confidence
-Provent false since oxytocin have a half life of 8 minutes meaning it leaves your body quickly
-Most products are commercialized research results

Question 32

Mirroring neurons

Answer 32

-“Monkey see monkey do”
-Feeling pain of others
-Not proven in humans but seem in primates; there could be a correlation
-Helps us evolve and survive

Question 33

The Sex Drive, Attraction, Attachment

Answer 33

Three brain systems for courtship, mating, reproduction, and parenting that has evolved in mammals

Question 34

The Sex Drive

Answer 34

-Craving for sexual gratification
-Evolved to motivate individuals to have sex
-Related to testosterone

Question 35

Attraction

Answer 35

-Preference to someone for mating
-Related to dopamine and norepinephrine

Question 36

Attachment

Answer 36

-State of calm when in contact with a mate
-Anxiety when apart
-Associated with parental behaviors; feeding, nest building and defense, grooming, etc
-Evolved to keep men and women together long enough to parent offsprings
-Related to oxytocin and vasopressin

Question 37

Interpersonal Neurobiology

Answer 37

-Brain is a social organ of adaptation
-Love is a nutrient that helps human brains grow
-The brain is a neuroplastic organ
-It can be changed by experiences and relationships

Question 38

Neuroskeptics

Answer 38

-States that neuroscience can’t explain everything that we feel and experience
-It can explain the technical questions but never the interesting ones