Before we start: the VTA (or VT, or ventral tegmental area) is the part of the brain that produces dopamine.
Study 1: Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love
To establish whether the ventral midbrain activation occurred because our participants were feeling romantic passion or were stimulated by an aesthetically pleasing face, we correlated facial attractiveness (as rated by others) with neural activation. This correlation showed that those with more aesthetically pleasing partners compared to the Neutral stimulus showed greater neural activity in the region of the left VTA than those with less attractive partners compared to the Neutral stimulus.
Simply looking at an attractive face activates the part of the brain that is responsible for dopamine production. This is something that was actually found as far back as 2001 (next study), where the authors compared this activation to addictive drugs and monetary rewards.
Study 2: Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: fMRI and Behavioral Evidence
In human neuroimaging studies, stimuli leading to significant signal changes in these regions have included drugs such as cocaine, nicotine, amphetamine, and morphine, pleasant or aversive tastants, pleasant tactile stimuli, and monetary rewards Berns et al. 2001, Breiter et al. 1996b, Breiter et al. 1997, Breiter et al. 1998, Breiter et al. 2000, Breiter et al. 2001, Breiter and Rosen 1999, Delgado et al. 2000, Drevets et al. 2001, Elliott et al. 2000, Francis et al. 1999, Knutson et al. 2000, Knutson et al. 2001, O'Doherty et al. 2001, Rogers et al. 1999, Small et al. 2001, Stein et al. 1998, Thut et al. 1997, Zald et al. 1998.
Btw, the spatial scale of those regions of the brain is "cubic millimeters of tissue" according to study 2.
It is not surprising that men like to watch beautiful women's faces; however, it was not obvious that this class of stimuli would activate the classical reward circuitry that has previously been associated with drug rewards, homeostatic rewards, and monetary rewards, all of which have direct physiological implications or can be readily transformed into goal-objects with physiological effects. This is a critical issue since many literatures outside of neuroscience consider facial attractiveness as a social construct that is not necessarily tied into the function of fundamental reward circuitry (reviewed in Etcoff, 1999).
This article from 2001 was already saying back then that facial attractiveness is so much more than a social construct. It's a fundamental desire like monetary rewards and the good sensations you get from drugs
For those who still aren't convinced of the importance of dopamine, read pic below, it's from an MIT article on the neuroscience of love
No wonder attractive people dominate all forms of visual platforms (movies, advertisement, tiktok, instagram, tinder etc)
Simply looking at an attractive face hijacks your brain like a drug. Are people who look at attractive people all day online any different from drug addicts?
No wonder the halo effect exist: how can you objectively and rationally assess an attractive person if just looking at them is so blissful to your brain?
Sources in order: (all full text)
www.researchgate.net
www.sciencedirect.com
@soymonkcel @your personality
Study 1: Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love
To establish whether the ventral midbrain activation occurred because our participants were feeling romantic passion or were stimulated by an aesthetically pleasing face, we correlated facial attractiveness (as rated by others) with neural activation. This correlation showed that those with more aesthetically pleasing partners compared to the Neutral stimulus showed greater neural activity in the region of the left VTA than those with less attractive partners compared to the Neutral stimulus.
Simply looking at an attractive face activates the part of the brain that is responsible for dopamine production. This is something that was actually found as far back as 2001 (next study), where the authors compared this activation to addictive drugs and monetary rewards.Study 2: Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: fMRI and Behavioral Evidence
In human neuroimaging studies, stimuli leading to significant signal changes in these regions have included drugs such as cocaine, nicotine, amphetamine, and morphine, pleasant or aversive tastants, pleasant tactile stimuli, and monetary rewards Berns et al. 2001, Breiter et al. 1996b, Breiter et al. 1997, Breiter et al. 1998, Breiter et al. 2000, Breiter et al. 2001, Breiter and Rosen 1999, Delgado et al. 2000, Drevets et al. 2001, Elliott et al. 2000, Francis et al. 1999, Knutson et al. 2000, Knutson et al. 2001, O'Doherty et al. 2001, Rogers et al. 1999, Small et al. 2001, Stein et al. 1998, Thut et al. 1997, Zald et al. 1998.
Btw, the spatial scale of those regions of the brain is "cubic millimeters of tissue" according to study 2.
It is not surprising that men like to watch beautiful women's faces; however, it was not obvious that this class of stimuli would activate the classical reward circuitry that has previously been associated with drug rewards, homeostatic rewards, and monetary rewards, all of which have direct physiological implications or can be readily transformed into goal-objects with physiological effects. This is a critical issue since many literatures outside of neuroscience consider facial attractiveness as a social construct that is not necessarily tied into the function of fundamental reward circuitry (reviewed in Etcoff, 1999).
This article from 2001 was already saying back then that facial attractiveness is so much more than a social construct. It's a fundamental desire like monetary rewards and the good sensations you get from drugsFor those who still aren't convinced of the importance of dopamine, read pic below, it's from an MIT article on the neuroscience of love
No wonder attractive people dominate all forms of visual platforms (movies, advertisement, tiktok, instagram, tinder etc)
Simply looking at an attractive face hijacks your brain like a drug. Are people who look at attractive people all day online any different from drug addicts?
No wonder the halo effect exist: how can you objectively and rationally assess an attractive person if just looking at them is so blissful to your brain?
Sources in order: (all full text)
(PDF) Aron A, Fisher H, Mashek DJ, Strong G, Li H, Brown LL. Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love. J Neurophysiol 94: 327-337
PDF | Early-stage romantic love can induce euphoria, is a cross-cultural phenomenon, and is possibly a developed form of a mammalian drive to pursue... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
www.researchgate.net
Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: fMRI and Behavioral Evidence
The brain circuitry processing rewarding and aversive stimuli is hypothesized to be at the core of motivated behavior. In this study, discrete categor…
@soymonkcel @your personality
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