In people in love – especially men – the areas related to parenting become more active in the brain, reports New Scientist.
65 people, including young parents, newly in love and single parents, were shown – in addition to other pictures – images of newborns while examining the electrical activity of the brain (electroencephalography, EEG).
Upon seeing an unfamiliar child, parents and lovers showed greater activity in areas of the brain associated with parenting than singles, such as the nucleus acumbens or the anterior gyrus and amygdala. Mothers and men in love responded more clearly than fathers and women in love.
As researchers at Ramat Gan University in Israel admit, the results of the study do not explain whether men in love want or are afraid of having children.