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Review
. 2022 Apr 26;12(5):551.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci12050551.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Romantic Love: A Review of EEG and ERP Studies with Beloved-Related Stimuli

Sandra J E Langeslag  1
Affiliations
Review

Electrophysiological Correlates of Romantic Love: A Review of EEG and ERP Studies with Beloved-Related Stimuli

Sandra J E Langeslag. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Science is starting to unravel the neural basis of romantic love. The goal of this literature review was to identify and interpret the electrophysiological correlates of romantic love. Electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) studies with a design that elicits romantic love feelings were included. The methods of previous EEG studies are too heterogeneous to draw conclusions. Multiple ERP studies, however, have shown that beloved stimuli elicit an enhanced late positive potential (LPP/P3/P300), which is not due to familiarity, positive valence, or objective beauty. This effect occurs in Western and Eastern cultures and for pictorial and verbal information, and results from bottom-up rather than top-down factors. Studies have also shown that beloved stimuli elicit an early posterior negativity (EPN), which also does not seem to be due to familiarity or positive valence. Data on earlier ERP components (P1, N1, P2, N170/VPP, N2) is scarce and mixed. Of course, the enhanced LPP and EPN are not specific to romantic love. Instead, they suggest that the beloved captures early attention, within 200-300 ms after stimulus onset that is relatively resource-independent, and subsequently receives sustained motivated attention. Future research would benefit from employing cognitive tasks and testing participants who are in love regardless of relationship status.

Keywords: P3; P300; attention; brain; early posterior negativity (EPN); electroencephalography (EEG); event-related potential (ERP); late positive potential (LPP); love; romantic love; romantic relationships.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of the enhanced LPP (panel a) and the EPN (panel b) in response to the beloved, adapted from [50]. As is common in ERP figures, positive is plotted downward. Because the EPN is a relative difference, scalp topography effects are depicted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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