Love vs. Lust – Which is It?

It’s not uncommon for people to mistake lust for love. But when scientists examine what’s really going on inside the brain, they can see that lust stimulates different areas than love.

A new study featured in the Journal of Sexual Medicine shows that there are principally two parts of the brain that are involved in processing passionate feelings and their eventual evolution into the experience of love. These two areas are the insular cortex, which has been linked to the processing of emotions and the striatum which is activated by reward and intense experiences.

Researchers examined 20 studies regarding how sex and love impact people. Brain scans were used to determine if different areas were activated when participants were shown erotic images as opposed to pictures of their spouse or partner. Subjects were also shown photos of other pleasurable things such as food.

Results reveal that lust causes activity in the section of the brain that regulates feelings of pleasure such as eating chocolate or engaging in sexual intimacy. Love, on the other hand, stimulated the area of the brain responsible for routines and habit formation, which is representative of when two people form a bond. Lead study author, Jim Pfaus says that both love and lust are processed in related areas of the brain.

Since love is associated with the area of the brain connected to habits, which take time to form, Pfaus says that love at first sight is probably a myth. In his opinion, desire is a more likely culprit.

While it is certainly possible for lust to be converted to love, when sentiments change, they get stored into a different area of the brain. Pfaus conveys that the same thing actually happens with addiction – an addict starts out with a craving that eventually turns into a habit.

The study has important implications for the application of this process in explaining the formation of drug dependence. Pfaus hopes the results will also help us to have a better overall understanding of addiction.