The Neuroimaging of Love | Passion Promotes Dendrite Growth in Brains

RoseTracker| Using brain scan technology, researchers now understand that ‘love at first sight’ may not be a myth of poets, writers and visual artists.

In a technical study getting minor coverage in the popular press, The Neuroimaging of Love, Dr Stephanie Ortigue who led the study concludes that love isn’t a basic emotion but a complex one involving 12 areas of the brain that create and then sustain the magic moment.

Almost in contradictory logic, the brain begins processing its reaction to the ‘love object’ in one fifth of a second, underscoring the fact that first impressions do exist and are firmly implanted in the brain.

A finding in Dr. Ortigue’s research that caught Anne’s eye concerns NGF, or nerve growth factor, which is positively associated with growing new dendrites in the brain. The higher the levels of NGF in subjects’ brains, the more intense the relationship. via the Independent UK

The challenge for couples is how to keep dendrites growing after years of coupledom. Read on: Mrs. Khaki Pants | Neurobic Sex Inspires Smarter Brains.