Lucy L. Brown

Sensory and cognitive functions of the basal ganglia.

Recent studies have found that the basal ganglia are involved in diverse behavioral activities and suggest that they have executive functions. Highlights from the past year include anatomical and clinical studies that have used sophisticated, novel methods to confirm a role for the basal ganglia in somatosensory discrimination, visual perception, spatial working memory and habit learning.

Romantic love: An fMRI study of a neural mechanism for mate choice

Scientists have described myriad traits in mammalian and avian species that evolved to attract mates. But the brain mechanisms by which conspecifics become attracted to these traits is largely unknown. Yet mammals and birds express mate preferences and make mate choices, and data suggest that this “attraction system” is associated with the dopaminergic reward system. It has been proposed that intense romantic love, a cross‐cultural universal, is a developed form of this attraction system. To determine the neural mechanisms associated with romantic love we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and studied 17 people who were intensely “in love” (Aron et al. [2005] J Neurophysiol 94:327–337). Activation specific to the beloved occurred in the right ventral tegmental area and right caudate nucleus, dopamine‐rich areas associated with mammalian reward and motivation. These and other results suggest that dopaminergic reward pathways contribute to the “general arousal” component of romantic love; romantic love is primarily a motivation system, rather than an emotion; this drive is distinct from the sex drive; romantic love changes across time; and romantic love shares biobehavioral similarities with mammalian attraction. We propose that this attraction mechanism evolved to enable individuals to focus their mating energy on specific others, thereby conserving energy and facilitating mate choice—a primary aspect of reproduction. Last, the corticostriate system, with its potential for combining diverse cortical information with reward signals, is an excellent anatomical substrate for the complex factors contributing to romantic love and mate choice. J. Comp. Neurol. 493:58–62, 2005.

Defining the brain systems of lust, romantic attraction, and attachment.

Mammals and birds have evolved three primary, discrete, interrelated emotion–motivation systems in the brain for mating, reproduction, and parenting: lust, attraction, and male–female attachment. Each emotion–motivation system is associated with a specific constellation of neural correlates and a distinct behavioral repertoire. Lust evolved to initiate the mating process with any appropriate partner; attraction evolved to enable individuals to choose among and prefer specific mating partners, thereby conserving their mating time and energy; male–female attachment evolved to enable individuals to cooperate with a reproductive mate until species-specific parental duties have been completed. The evolution of these three emotion–motivation systems contribute to contemporary patterns of marriage, adultery, divorce, remarriage, stalking, homicide and other crimes of passion, and clinical depression due to romantic rejection. This article defines these three emotion–motivation systems. Then it discusses an ongoing project using functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain to investigate the neural circuits associated with one of these emotion–motivation systems, romantic attraction.

Romantic love: a mammalian brain system for mate choice

Mammals and birds regularly express mate preferences and make mate choices. Data on mate choice among mammals suggest that this behavioural ‘attraction system’ is associated with dopaminergic reward pathways in the brain. It has been proposed that intense romantic love, a human cross-cultural universal, is a developed form of this attraction system. To begin to determine the neural mechanisms associated with romantic attraction in humans, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study 17 people who were intensely ‘in love’. Activation specific to the beloved occurred in the brainstem right ventral tegmental area and right postero-dorsal body of the caudate nucleus. These and other results suggest that dopaminergic reward and motivation pathways contribute to aspects of romantic love. We also used fMRI to study 15 men and women who had just been rejected in love. Preliminary analysis showed activity specific to the beloved in related regions of the reward system associated with monetary gambling for uncertain large gains and losses, and in regions of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex associated with theory of mind, obsessive/compulsive behaviours and controlling anger. These data contribute to our view that romantic love is one of the three primary brain systems that evolved in avian and mammalian species to direct reproduction. The sex drive evolved to motivate individuals to seek a range of mating partners; attraction evolved to motivate individuals to prefer and pursue specific partners; and attachment evolved to motivate individuals to remain together long enough to complete species-specific parenting duties. These three behavioural repertoires appear to be based on brain systems that are largely distinct yet interrelated, and they interact in specific ways to orchestrate reproduction, using both hormones and monoamines. Romantic attraction in humans and its antecedent in other mammalian species play a primary role: this neural mechanism motivates individuals to focus their courtship energy on specific others, thereby conserving valuable time and metabolic energy, and facilitating mate choice.

Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love

The present study examined the neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Ten women and 7 men married an average of 21.4 years underwent fMRI while viewing facial images of their partner. Control images included a highly familiar acquaintance; a close, long-term friend; and a low-familiar person. Effects specific to the intensely loved, long-term partner were found in: (i) areas of the dopamine-rich reward and basal ganglia system, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dorsal striatum, consistent with results from early-stage romantic love studies; and (ii) several regions implicated in maternal attachment, such as the globus pallidus (GP), substantia nigra, Raphe nucleus, thalamus, insular cortex, anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate. Correlations of neural activity in regions of interest with widely used questionnaires showed: (i) VTA and caudate responses correlated with romantic love scores and inclusion of other in the self; (ii) GP responses correlated with friendship-based love scores; (iii) hypothalamus and posterior hippocampus responses correlated with sexual frequency; and (iv) caudate, septum/fornix, posterior cingulate and posterior hippocampus responses correlated with obsession. Overall, results suggest that for some individuals the reward-value associated with a long-term partner may be sustained, similar to new love, but also involves brain systems implicated in attachment and pair-bonding.

Alterations of regional cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism in Parkinson's disease.

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and oxygen metabolism (rCMRO,) were determined in six normals, six unilateral Parkinsons disease (PD) patients, and eight bilateral PD patients. In the unilateral patients, rCBF and rCMRO2 in the basal ganglia contralateral to the symptomatic limbs was 13% higher than on the other side (p < 0.01); in the frontal cortex it was 8% lower than the other side, suggesting abnormal neuronal function in both regions. The bilateral PD patients had a widespread decrease (20%) in rCBF unaccompanied by comparable changes in rCMRO2, suggesting vasoconstriction due to loss of dopaminergic innervation of blood vessels in more advanced PD patients.

Organizing principles of cortical integration in the rat neostriatum: Corticostriate map of the body surface is an ordered lattice of curved laminae and radial points

The neuroanatomic organizing principles underlying integrative functions in the striatum are only partially understood. Within the three major subdivisions of the striatum—sensorimotor, associative, and limbic—longitudinal zones of axonal plexuses from the cerebral cortex end in bands and clusters that innervate cell groups. To identify organizing principles of the corticostriate bands and clusters, we localized somatosensory cortical cells receptive to light touch on the hindlimb, forelimb, or vibrissae by extracellular recording, and we labeled their projections by iontophoretic application of dextran anterograde tracers. The results show that cortical cells in columnar groups project to the striatum in the form of successive strips, or laminae, that parallel the curve of the external capsule. The vibrissae somatosensory cortex projects to the most lateral lamina. Just medial to the vibrissae projection, the major axonal arborizations arising from hindlimb and forelimb somatosensory cortex are organized within a common lamina, where they interdigitate and overlap as well as remain separate. In addition, the hindlimb and forelimb cortex send small projections to the vibrissae lamina, and vice versa, forming broken, radially oriented lines of points across the laminar strips. The major somatosensory projections are in the dorsolateral, calbindin‐poor sensorimotor striatum, whereas the radially oriented projection points extend into the medial, calbindin‐rich associative striatum. Extending previous studies of corticostriate projections, this report shows a grid translation of columnar somatosensory cortical inputs into striatum and a detailed map for the rat sensorimotor zone. The lattice‐like grid is a novel functional/neuroanatomic organization that is ideal for distributing, combining, and integrating information for sensorimotor and cognitive processing. J. Comp. Neurol. 392:468–488, 1998.

Shared brain vulnerabilities open the way for nonsubstance addictions: Carving addiction at a new joint?

For more than half a century, since the beginning of formal diagnostics, our psychiatric nosology has compartmentalized the compulsive pursuit of substance (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, heroin, nicotine) from nonsubstance (e.g., gambling, food, sex) rewards. Emerging brain, behavioral, and genetic findings challenge this diagnostic boundary, pointing to shared vulnerabilities underlying the pathological pursuit of substance and nonsubstance rewards. Working groups for the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM‐V), are thus considering whether the nosologic boundaries of addiction should be redrawn to include nonsubstance disorders, such as gambling. This review discusses how neurobiological data from problem gambling, obesity, and “normal” states of attachment (romantic infatuation, sexual attraction, maternal bonds) may help us in the task of carving addictions “at a new joint.” Diagnostic recarving may have a positive effect on addiction research, stimulating discovery of “crossover” pharmacotherapies with benefit for both substance and nonsubstance addictions.

Reward and motivation systems: A brain mapping study of early-stage intense romantic love in Chinese participants

Early‐stage romantic love has been studied previously in the United States and United Kingdom (Aron et al. [ 2005 ]: J Neurophysiol 94:327–337; Bartels and Zeki [ 2000 ]: Neuroreport 11:3829–3834; Ortigue et al. [ 2007 ]: J Cogn Neurosci 19:1218–1230), revealing activation in the reward and motivation systems of the brain. In this study, we asked what systems are activated for early‐stage romantic love in Easterners, specifically Chinese participants? Are these activations affected by individual differences within a cultural context of Traditionality and Modernity? Also, are these brain activations correlated with later satisfaction in the relationship? In Beijing, we used the same procedure used by Aron et al. (Aron et al. [ 2005 ]: J Neurophysiol 94:327–337). The stimuli for 18 Chinese participants were a picture of the face of their beloved, the face of a familiar acquaintance, and a countback task. We found significant activations specific to the beloved in the reward and motivation systems, particularly, the ventral tegmental area and the caudate. The mid‐orbitofrontal cortex and cerebellum were also activated, whereas amygdala, medial orbitofrontal, and medial accumbens activity were decreased relative to the familiar acquaintance. Self‐reported Traditionality and Modernity scores were each positively correlated with activity in the nucleus accumbens, although in different regions and sides of the brain. Activity in the subgenual area and the superior frontal gyrus was associated with higher relationship happiness at 18‐month follow‐up. Our results show that midbrain dopamine‐rich reward/motivation systems were activated by early‐stage romantic love in Chinese participants, as found by other studies. Neural activity was associated with Traditionality and Modernity attitudes as well as with later relationship happiness for Chinese participants. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011.

Histochemical and pharmacological analysis of catecholaminergic projections to the perifornical hypothalamus in relation to feeding inhibition

Three techniques, namely, midbrain lesions, fluorescence histochemistry and brain cannulation, were used in combination to analyze catecholamine (CA) projections to the perifornical hypothalamus and their function in suppressing feeding behavior. The convergence of evidence indicates that the ventral adrenergic component of the central tegmental tract and dopaminergic projections from midbrain A8 and possibly A9 cell groups contain the crucial fibers which innervate the perifornical hypothalamus and mediate CA suppression of feeding behavior. The primary evidence for this conclusion is that ventral tegmental electrolytic or 6-OHDA lesions which damaged specifically these fibers invariably caused: (1) a marked reduction of CA varicosities in the perifornical area; (2) a strong reduction or loss of the anorectic response produced by perifornical injection of the presynaptically acting drugs amphetamine and mazindol; and (3) a potentiation of the anorectic response produced by perifornical injection of the CA receptor agonists dopamine and epinephrine. Lesions in the dorsal midbrain tegmentum, which left intact the ventral adrenergic and dopaminergic fibers but damaged the compact dorsal tegmental bundle, the dorsal fibers of the central tegmental tract and the medial and lateral tegmental CA radiations, had no apparent effect on the responsiveness of the perifornical hypothalamus to CA drug stimulation, as well as on the CA fluorescence in that region. Lesions in the area of the dopaminergic A10 cells and the midline tegmental CA radiations actually potentiated the effectiveness of the anorexigenic drugs in the perifornical hypothalamus.