Rationale Love has long been referred to as an addiction in literature and poetry. Scientists
have often made comparisons between social attachment processes and drug addiction�…

There is a considerable literature on the neurobiology of reward, based largely on studies of
addiction or substance abuse. This review considers the possibility that the neural circuits�…

Individuals in the early stage of intense romantic love show many symptoms of substance
and non-substance or behavioral addictions, including euphoria, craving, tolerance�…

Social attachments play a central role in human society. In fact, such attachments are so
important that deficits in the ability to form meaningful social bonds are associated with a�…

Social connection, the pleasurable, subjective experience of feeling close to and bonded
with other people, is critical for well-being and continued social bonding. Despite the�…

The present article advances a neurobiological model of the reciprocal associations
between social attachment and drug abuse, and social attachment and chronic stress, as�…

Drug addiction has devastating consequences on social behaviors and can lead to the
impairment of social bonding. Accumulating evidence indicates that alterations in oxytocin�…

Drug use typically occurs within a social context, and social factors play an important role in
the initiation, maintenance and recovery from addictions. There is now accumulating�…

Animal studies point to the role of two neuropeptides–oxytocin and vasopressin–in the
regulation of affiliative behaviors including mating, pair-bond formation, maternal/parenting�…

Addictive drugs can profoundly affect social behaviour both acutely and in the long‐term.
Effects range from the artificial sociability imbued by various intoxicating agents to the�…