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Viewing pictures of a romantic partner reduces experimental pain: involvement of neural reward systems.

ABSTRACT: The early stages of a new romantic relationship are characterized by intense feelings of euphoria, well-being, and preoccupation with the romantic partner. Neuroimaging research has linked those feelings to activation of reward systems in the human brain. The results of those studies may be relevant to pain management in humans, as basic animal research has shown that pharmacologic activation of reward systems can substantially reduce pain. Indeed, viewing pictures of a romantic partner was recently demonstrated to reduce experimental thermal pain. We hypothesized that pain relief evoked by viewing pictures of a romantic partner would be associated with neural activations in reward-processing centers. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we examined fifteen individuals in the first nine months of a new, romantic relationship. Participants completed three tasks under periods of moderate and high thermal pain: 1) viewing pictures of their romantic partner, 2) viewing pictures of an equally attractive and familiar acquaintance, and 3) a word-association distraction task previously demonstrated to reduce pain. The partner and distraction tasks both significantly reduced self-reported pain, although only the partner task was associated with activation of reward systems. Greater analgesia while viewing pictures of a romantic partner was associated with increased activity in several reward-processing regions, including the caudate head, nucleus accumbens, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex--regions not associated with distraction-induced analgesia. The results suggest that the activation of neural reward systems via non-pharmacologic means can reduce the experience of pain.

SUBMITTER: Younger J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2954158 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Viewing pictures of a romantic partner reduces experimental pain: involvement of neural reward systems.

Younger Jarred J Aron Arthur A Parke Sara S Chatterjee Neil N Mackey Sean S

PloS one 20101013 10

The early stages of a new romantic relationship are characterized by intense feelings of euphoria, well-being, and preoccupation with the romantic partner. Neuroimaging research has linked those feelings to activation of reward systems in the human brain. The results of those studies may be relevant to pain management in humans, as basic animal research has shown that pharmacologic activation of reward systems can substantially reduce pain. Indeed, viewing pictures of a romantic partner was rece ...[more]

PMID: 20967200

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Project description:Background: Negative affective states may increase the risk for problematic pornography use. Underlying neurophysiological mechanisms are, however, not completely understood. Previous research suggests that the participants' emotional state may affect neural processing of sexual stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate neural correlates of negative affect-induced alterations in sexual cue reactivity in healthy men. The moderating effects of habitual porn consumption, trait sexual motivation, and symptoms of cybersex addiction were also considered. Method: Sixty-four healthy men engaged in a sexual cue reactivity task (passive viewing of explicit sexual pictures and neutral pictures depicting scenes of social interaction) during negative (n = 32) vs. neutral affect (n = 32), induced via tailored feedback on a performance task. Self-reported sexual arousal and event-related brain potentials indicated cue reactivity and motivated attention. Symptoms of cybersex addiction and trait sexual motivation were assessed with the help of the short Internet Addiction Test, adapted to online sexual activities, and the Trait Sexual Motivation Questionnaire. Results: Negative feedback increased negative affect after the performance task. While sexual pictures compared to neutral pictures elicited significantly larger P300 and late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes, there was no general effect of negative feedback on sexual stimuli-related P300 and LPP amplitudes. In the negative feedback group, men with higher solitary sexual motivation levels showed higher P300/LPP difference amplitudes for sexual stimuli compared to men with lower levels of solitary sexual motivation. The opposite effect was found in the group with neutral feedback. There was no link to other aspects of trait sexual motivation and symptoms of cybersex addiction. Conclusions: Results suggest that higher levels of solitary sexual motivation may enhance motivated attention toward sexual stimuli among men receiving negative performance feedback. Other characteristics of sexual behaviors and traits provided no exploratory value. Future studies extending onto men suffering from compulsive sexual behavior disorder will have to closer look at the neurophysiological bases of why and when some men develop an addictive pornography consumption.

Project description:The personality traits we have and the closeness we experience in our relationships inevitably color the lenses through which we perceive social interactions. As such, the varying perceptions of our social relationships could indicate underlying differences in neural processes that occur in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region involved in social cognition. However, little is known of how personality traits and relationship closeness with others influence brain responses when viewing social interactions between kin (i.e., siblings) and non-kin (i.e., romantic, friends) partners. In the present study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was employed to investigate prefrontal cortical activation patterns in response to three 1-min mute video clips depicting a male-female couple interacting with comparably mild levels of affection while baking, exercising, and eating. The context of the interaction was manipulated by informing participants about the type of relationship each couple in the three video clips was in: (a) romantic partners, (b) friends, or (c) siblings. By changing only the contextual labels of the videos, we revealed distinct PFC responses to relationship type as a function of openness trait, closeness with romantic partner, and closeness with siblings. As openness score increased, we observed an enhanced activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the left anterior PFC (aPFC), and the right frontal eye fields (FEFs) in response to the video labeled romantic and friendship, but a reduction in these areas in the siblings condition. Similarly, individuals with higher romantic and sibling closeness showed increased activation in the IFG and dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) in response to romantic and friendship conditions, but decreased activation in the siblings condition. Differences in PFC activations toward romantic, friendship, and sibling relationships reflect underlying variations in the cognitive processing of social interactions, depending on the personality (i.e., openness) and experiences (i.e., relationship closeness) of the individual, as well as the relationship type with which the interaction is labeled.

Dataset Information

Viewing pictures of a romantic partner reduces experimental pain: involvement of neural reward systems.

Publications

Viewing pictures of a romantic partner reduces experimental pain: involvement of neural reward systems.

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