Abstract
Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions to potential romantic partners at the initial encounter; it evolved to promote mate selection, allowing individuals to focus their mating efforts on their preferred potential mates. After decades of effort, we now have a deeper understanding of the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA; however, little is known regarding the brain mechanisms related to its generation and evaluation. In this study, we combined classic event-related potential analysis with dipole-source analysis to examine electroencephalogram (EEG) signals generated while participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners. The EEG signals were categorized into IRA-engendered and unengendered conditions based on behavioral indicators. We found that the faces elicited multiple late positivities, including P300 over the occipital–parietal regions and late positive potentials (LPPs) over the anterior regions. When compared to faces that did not engender IRA, faces that did engender IRA elicited (1) enhanced P300 over the parietal regions and heightened neural activity in the insula and cingulate cortex and (2) larger LPPs over the anterior regions and heightened neural activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, frontal eye field, visual cortex, and insula. These results suggest IRA is generated and evaluated by an extensive brain network involved in emotion processing, attention control, and social evaluations. Furthermore, these findings indicate that P300 and LPP may represent different cognitive processes during IRA.
Highlights
The lyrics from “You Had Me From Hello” by American country music artist Kenny Chesney describe what many people experience the first moment they meet someone: They are deeply attracted; their eyes are fixed on this new person, and they forget everything else; inexplicable excitement and pleasure fill their body
Results of event-related potential (ERP) analysis demonstrated that, when compared with faces that did not result in initial romantic attraction (IRA), faces that resulted in IRA elicited a larger P300 over the parietal region and enhanced late positive potentials (LPPs) over the parietal–central–frontal regions
These findings suggest that larger P300 response magnitude over the parietal lobe may be caused by stronger activation of the insula and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), whereas enhanced LPP over the prefrontal and central cortices may be caused by heightened activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), frontal eye field (FEF), VAC, insula, and PCC neurons
Summary
The lyrics from “You Had Me From Hello” by American country music artist Kenny Chesney describe what many people experience the first moment they meet someone: They are deeply attracted; their eyes are fixed on this new person, and they forget everything else; inexplicable excitement and pleasure fill their body. Mechanisms of Initial Romantic Attraction described in the lyrics, attraction to a person in initial encounter is traditionally the first step in any romantic relationship (Olderbak et al, 2017; Gerlach and Reinhard, 2018) This kind of attraction, which occurs in the context of initial or brief encounters, has inconsistently been referred to as initial romantic attraction (IRA) (Finkel et al, 2007), romantic interest at zero acquaintance (Asendorpf et al, 2011), and love at first sight (Swami, 2013; Barelds and Barelds-Dijkstra, 2016). IRA is one of the three main emotional motivational systems that mammals display during mating and reproduction It is characterized by increased energy and focused attention on one or more potential mates, and in humans, it is usually accompanied by feelings of excitement, “intrusive thinking” about a partner, and a desire to emotionally bond with a potential partner (Fisher, 1998; Fisher et al, 2002)
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