One of the few mammals that practice monogamous love , remain with the same partner throughout their lives, are the Microtus ochrogaster , or prairie voles . After observing their behavior, a team of scientists from Enory University, in the United States, has proposed to describe in detail the neural activity that leads to an emotional connection with a partner.
Until now, scientists were clear that significant changes in the perception of the couple occur when there is an emotional bond : hormones such as oxytocin and dopamine act on the reward centers of the brain (the nucleus accumbens) and the prefrontal cortex. But this study, published in the journal Nature , is the first to show the precise neural pathways that activate reward centers.
To verify this, the researchers observed the communication between two areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens) during 6 hours of socialization of females and males. Long enough for relationships and emotional bonds to be established. An observation that was made with the optogenetics technique, which uses light to measure brain activity.
As the link was being established, the prefrontal cortex , which is an area of the brain involved in nonrational decision -making, marked rhythmic oscillations of neurons within the nucleus accumbens. The intensity of this functional connection varied from one individual to another, and those who established a more intense connection showed faster affiliation behavior. In addition, female voles showed greater preference for mates with whom they had established a bond than for unknown males, when they were given a choice the next day.
The findings of the study may have applications in humans , not in the way of establishing relationships, but to improve social communication in people with disorders such as autism. In the words of associate professor in the department of Biology at Emory University and co-author of the study, Robert Lui: “Our goal is to promote better neural communication to boost social cognition in disorders such as autism , in which functioning social may be affected. “
References:
Elizabeth A. Amadei et al. Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles. Nature, 2017. DOI: 10.1038 / nature22381
