Do love and sex stimulate or trigger the same or different parts of the brain? It’s a question that has intrigued neuropsychologists for years.

And now a team of researchers, including Concordia University neuroscientist James Pfaus, think they may have found the answer: two separate brain systems that do overlap when one is in love.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Pfaus and a team of researchers were able to show a map of the regions of the brain stimulated by both love and sexual arousal.

“The take-away is there are two systems in the brain that involve all parts of the brain,” explained Pfaus, a professor of neuroscience at Concordia’s psychology department. “One is for love, one is for sexual desire.

“But when you are in love there are parts of those two systems that overlap. The overlap means you can’t really be in love with someone without really desiring them sexually.”

Pfaus and the others reviewed 20 separate studies that examined brain activity while subjects were engaged in either viewing erotic pictures or pornography or looking at photographs of their significant others.

Surprisingly, they found no gender difference whatsoever in the parts of the brain stimulated by love and or sex.

Taking all of the results they were able to build a map that revealed that the two separate brain structures — the insula cortex and the striatum — are activated when exposed to love and sex.

The findings reveal a shared brain network between love and sexual desire.

And the activation of both these regions of the brain may begin to explain the craving of sexual desire as well as the addictive properties of love.

“People already feel love bears some resemblance to addiction, but the study is now telling us that.”

So just what do the two separate systems do?

The insula cortex, located deep within the cerebral cortex between the temporal and frontal lobe, links the limbic system to the cortex so you become consciously aware of your feelings, explained Pfaus.

It takes the emotions you’re feeling and gives them meaning.

The striatum is located nearby inside the forebrain. It is the part of the brain that links motivation to action and links motivation to the movements you have to make to get what you need.

What the map revealed is the posterior parts of the insula are activated by desire and the anterior parts of the insula are activated by more romantic stimuli. The middle portion of the insula was activated when a subject was with someone they loved and desired, Pfaus explained.

Love and sex also affect two different areas of the striatum. The area activated by sexual desire is the same as that usually activated by things that are inherently pleasurable, like food.

The area of the striatum activated by love is the same as the one associated with the process of conditioning and reward and pleasure.

The fact that the striatum is triggered by romantic love means love is like an addiction, said Pfaus, since the striatum is associated with cravings and drug addiction.

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“Maybe love is an addiction — not a bad one, but a good one. One you want to have with your baby, your lover, your parents.”

Pfaus, who studies rats and their brains, was prompted by the study and its results to go back and look at his own work on rats that had pair bonded. Upon examination of their brains, he found the same part of the insula was activated in rats as humans.

“I think to some extent it’s now becoming clear when you’re in love the salient cues of your partner initiate a craving. A craving for what? Interaction and probably a desire to have sex with this person.”