RESEARCH

Sensory Processing Sensitivity Predicts Individual Differences in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Associated with Depth of Processing

Background: Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a biologically based temperament trait associated with enhanced awareness and responsivity to environmental and social stimuli.

Beyond romance: Neural and genetic correlates of altruism in pair-bonds.

Behav Neurosci. 2019 Feb;133(1):18-31. doi: 10.1037/bne0000293.

The neural and genetic correlates of satisfying sexual activity in heterosexual pair‐bonds

Funding information: This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (No. 0958171). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. In humans, satisfying sexual activity within a pair‐bond plays a significant role in relationship quality and maintenance, beyond reproduction.

The functional highly sensitive brain: a review of the brain circuits underlying sensory processing sensitivity and seemingly related disorders

Clinically, sensory processing issues manifest as inappropriate responses to stimuli that involve emotional and behavioural disruptions, and interfere with an individual's daily functioning [ 1]. As such, 'sensitivity' to sensory input may be defined positively as the ability to perceive small changes in stimulus intensity [ 2], or as a negative reaction to a low-threshold stimulus [ 3].

Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love

For centuries, humans have speculated about the mysteries of romantic love. One question that has puzzled theorists, therapists and laypeople is whether intense romantic love can last. Some theories suggest that love inevitably declines over time in marriage or after the child-rearing years ( Sternberg, 1986; Buss, 1989).

Try the 36 Questions on the Way to Love

A recent Modern Love essay refers to a study that explores whether intimacy between two strangers can be accelerated by having them ask each other a specific series of personal questions. The idea is that mutual vulnerability fosters closeness.

What Brain Scans Can Tell Us About Marriage

The truth is that most marriages, even our own, are something of a mystery to outsiders. Several years ago, a marriage researcher - Robert W. Levenson, director of the psychophysiology laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley - and his colleagues produced a video of 10 couples talking and bickering.

Marital Lust: New Research Shows True Love Can Last a Lifetime

Nobody wants to hear that you love your husband. It's gloating; it's bad manners; it makes other married couples feel competitive and single people feel lonely. There are only three acceptable arenas for crowing about how crazy you are about your spouse: at your wedding; when your kids throw you a fiftieth anniversary party; and in the eulogy when one of you dies.