Defining  the  Brain  Systems  of  Lust,  Romantic  Attraction,  and  Attachment  
 
  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  define  the  three  emotion-­‐motivation  systems,  that  is  
lust,  romantic  attraction  and  attachment.    It  is  hypothesized  that  out  of  all  the  primary  
neural  systems,  these  are  the  three  inter-­‐related  emotion-­‐motivation  systems  in  
mammalian  brains  specifically  for  mating,  reproduction,  and  parenting.  These  three  
systems  contribute  to  current  patterns  of  marriage,  adultery,  divorce,  remarriage,  stalking,  
homicide  etc.    
   There  were  two  phases  to  their  methods.  The  first  was  to  find  evidence  of  romantic  
passion  in  cross-­‐cultural  literature.  To  describe  romantic  attraction,  anthropologists  found  
that  within  166  societies,  147  showed  evidence  of  romantic  attraction  towards  each  other.  
Questionnaires  with  72  questions,  on  the  properties  of  romantic  attraction  were  then  
dispersed  among  437  American  and  402  Japanese  men  and  women.  
  The  second  phase  was  the  fMRI  of  the  brain  to  detect  the  active  site  when  in  the  
state  of  romantic  attraction.  11  female  and  3  male  subjects,  who  claimed  that  they  had  
“fallen  madly  in  love”  answered  questionnaires  and  answer  questions  orally  about  their  
feelings  in  their  relationships.  They  were  hooked  up  to  computer  based  devices  that  were  
able  to  tell  the  intensity  of  their  current  feelings  of  romantic  love,  while  the  questions  were  
asked,  and  certain  photographs  of  their  loved  ones  were  shown  to  them.  The  process  with  
the  questions  and  visual  aid  helped  preparing  the  individuals  for  the  next  step  of  phase  II.  
While  undergoing  the  fMRI,  the  individuals  were  subjected  to  photographs  of  their  loved  
ones  and  photographs  of  ones  that  they  felt  no  strong  positive  or  negative  feelings  for.  The  
experiment  took  12  minutes.  The  fMRI  experiment  is  still  under  examination  according  to  
the  article.  
  The  results  showed  that  when  under  the  state  of  romantic  attraction,  one  
experiences  high  levels  of  central  dopamine  and/or  norepinephrine  or  low  levels  of  central  
serotonin.  When  one  falls  in  love,  they  feel  like  that  person  is  their  “love  object”  takes  on  
“special  meaning”.  Dopamine  was  found  to  help  the  person  focus  on  their  loved  one  and  
consider  them  to  be  unique.  Individuals  look  at  the  positive  aspects  of  the  one  they  love  as  
opposed  to  the  negative.  Results  from  the  questionnaires  given  to  the  437  American  and  
402  Japanese  men  and  women  showed  that  73%  of  men  and  85%  of  women  remembered  
trivial  things  that  their  loved  one  did  or  said;  83%  of  men  and  90%  of  women  said  they  
often  thought  of  these  moments.  Individuals,  who  feel  romantic  attraction,  regularly  think  
of  their  loved  one  obsessively,  depend  of  the  relationship,  and  have  separation  anxiety.  
  This  paper  is  quite  intriguing  to  me,  because  it  shows  the  extent  that  people  today  
will  go  to,  to  understand  lust,  love,  attraction  etc.  It  is  interesting  to  read  this  article  
because  of  the  many  findings  that  they  put  together  regarding  humans’  attraction  for  one  
another  and  especially  their  loved  ones.  
 
Fisher, Helen E., Arthur Aron, Debra Mashek, Haifang Li, and Lucy L. Brown. "Defining the
Brain Systems of Lust, Romantic Attraction, and Attachment ." Archives of Sexual
Behavior 31.5 (2002): 413-419. Springer Link. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.