Ref: Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain - New York Times:
In an analysis of the images appearing today in The Journal of Neurophysiology, researchers in New York and New Jersey argue that romantic love is a biological urge distinct from sexual arousal.
It is closer in its neural profile to drives like hunger, thirst or drug craving, the researchers assert, than to emotional states like excitement or affection. As a relationship deepens, the brain scans suggest, the neural activity associated with romantic love alters slightly, and in some cases primes areas deep in the primitive brain that are involved in long-term attachment.
The research helps explain why love produces such disparate emotions, from euphoria to anger to anxiety, and why it seems to become even more intense when it is withdrawn. In a separate, continuing experiment, the researchers are analyzing brain images from people who have been rejected by their lovers.
xRef: googleSearch: caudate+nucleus ventral+tegmental+area
xRef: List of Regions in the human brain
xRef: Glossary of terms
Ref: healthsciences.columbia.edu:neuroanat_martin11.pdf
Parallel circuits course through the basal ganglia (fig. 11-3 and 11-4 are muy importante)
• Basal ganglia receive inputs from all lobes of cerebral cortex, but only project to frontal lobe (via
thalamus)
• There are anatomical “loops” which go from different parts of basal ganglia, to different thalamic
nuclei, and then to different parts of frontal lobe
o Each loop originates from multiple cortical regions that have similar general functions
o Each loop passes through different basal ganglia and thalamic nuclei (and within each
loop there may be anatomically distinct paths)
o The cortical targets of all loops are separate portions of the frontal lobe
• Skeletomotor loop: involved in control of skeletal musculature
• Oculomotor loop: involved in control of extraocular muscles
• Association loop: appears to be involved in cognition
• Limbic loop: appears to be involved in motivational regulation of behavior and emotions
• How loops work together when you want to pick up a cup of coffee:
o “Mmmm….that coffee smells good, I think I’ll drink some.” Limbic loop (motivation
and limbic system is close to olfactory structures)
o “Where should I reach in order to pick up the cup?” association loop
o “I need to focus on the cup and move my muscles appropriately so I can reach and grasp
it.” Skeletomotor and oculomotor
Knowledge of the connections and neurontransmitters of the basal ganglia provides insight into their
function in health and disease
Basal ganglia contain diverse neurotransmitters and neuromodulators
Comments: While I may be way off base because of limited knowledge and understanding I would like to say that it appears to me that treatments used currently, like SSRI drugs, are treating the malfunctions of these brain systems as if their processes were one way and open ended. From the best I can figure it out, they are loop-back systems that not only send out chemical 'signals' that cause the release of 'effectors' which generates 'indicators' that regulate the 'signals' to monitor their end results. It seems like tampering with the production or uptake of the chemicals anywhere in the loop will cause over or under production with unknown and possibly undesirable results. Here I'm referring to the increased risk of suicide or violent behavior anecdotially reported (and now studied) in patients being treated. - the Janitor
