Raised plasma nerve growth factor levels associated with early-stage romantic love.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Interdepartmental Center for Research in Molecular Medicine, CIRMC, University of Pavia, Viale Taramelli 24, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.

Published: April 2006

Our current knowledge of the neurobiology of romantic love remains scanty. In view of the complexity of a sentiment like love, it would not be surprising that a diversity of biochemical mechanisms could be involved in the mood changes of the initial stage of a romance. In the present study, we have examined whether the early romantic phase of a loving relationship could be associated with alterations in circulating levels of neurotrophins (NTs). Plasma levels of NGF, BDNF, NT-3 and NT-4 were measured in a total of 58 subjects who had recently fallen in love and compared with those of two control groups, consisting of subjects who were either single or were already engaged in a long-lasting relationship. NGF level was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the subjects in love [mean (SEM): 227 (14) pg/ml] than in either the subjects with a long-lasting relationship [123 (10) pg/ml] or the subjects with no relationship [149 (12) pg/ml]. Notably, there was also a significant positive correlation between levels of NGF and the intensity of romantic love as assessed with the passionate love scale (r = 0.34; p = 0.007). No differences in the concentrations of other NTs were detected. In 39 subjects in love who-after 12-24 months-maintained the same relationship but were no longer in the same mental state to which they had referred during the initial evaluation, plasma NGF levels decreased and became indistinguishable from those of the control groups. Taken together, these findings suggest that some behavioural and/or psychological features associated with falling in love could be related to raised NGF levels in the bloodstream.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.09.002DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

romantic love
12
love
9
levels ngf
8
control groups
8
long-lasting relationship
8
subjects love
8
pg/ml] subjects
8
ngf levels
8
levels
6
subjects
6

Similar Publications

Predictors of Young Adult Women's Psychological Well-Being in Romantic Relationships.

Behav Sci (Basel)

January 2025

Department of Health Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Sakarya University, Sakarya 54050, Türkiye.

Psychological well-being is the experience of fewer negative emotions, such as feelings of loneliness, depression, and low mood, and more positive emotions, such as taking pride in one's life, being enthusiastic about one's life, and having a highly satisfying purpose in life. In other words, it describes an individual who is happy and free from psychopathology. Psychological well-being in romantic relationships is influenced by several factors, such as empathy, relationship stability, and quality of sex life.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

For >15 years, researchers have speculated that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use is associated with negative romantic love outcomes. No one has empirically investigated this, however. Drawing on 810 participants from the Romantic Love Survey 2022, we used binary logistic regression to identify differences between young adults experiencing romantic love who were and were not taking SSRIs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Music is assumed to express a wide range of emotions. The vocabulary and structure of affects are typically explored without the context of music in which music is experienced, leading to abstract notions about what affects music may express. In a series of three experiments utilising three separate and iterative association tasks including a contextualisation with typical activities associated with specific music and affect terms, we identified the plausible affect terms and structures to capture the wide range of emotions expressed by music.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Role of A Beautiful Appearance in the Redemption of Female Ghosts.

J Craniofac Surg

November 2024

Department of Plastic Surgery, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-City, Gyeonggi-do, and Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

The aim of this study is to analyze the role played by the appearance of female ghosts in their redemption. In the literature on ghosts, entries on female ghosts highlight their "beautiful appearance": Arang (Korean), Otsuyu (Japanese), The White Lady (Europe), Nie Xiaoqian (Chinese), and Maria Makiling (Filipino). Ghosts are women who died tragically, leaving behind unfulfilled desires-particularly those related to romantic or societal expectations such as marriage, love, and motherhood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The attraction of evil. An investigation of factors explaining women's romantic parasocial relationships with bad guys in movies and series.

Front Psychol

December 2024

Department of Media and Business Communication, Institute Human-Computer-Media, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

The attractiveness of bad boys can be seen as a cultural phenomenon that can be found in different areas of society and art. In the media, too, the bad boy fulfills social expectations in terms of masculinity and is often portrayed as dominant, violent, hard, unemotional and aggressive. Women may feel attracted to this male dominance under certain conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!