The Origin of Love

* This is an online only event *

Summary:
Human beings show a range of emotional attachment, affection, and infatuation often referred to as “love”. Love promotes long-lasting and secure relationships that involve nurturing and support. Biological mechanisms underlying such behavior involve ancient neuropeptides and their receptors in the brain. These systems are also involved in reproduction, ranging from mating and pair-bonding, to giving birth and lactation. They shape the earliest experiences of all mammals and their mothers. The concept of love and how we experience it are affected by culture and its diverse societal norms. This symposium will explore the evolutionary roots of human love, compare human love to corresponding emotions in other animals, consider human conditions that prevent the expression of such feelings, and examine the key role of love and affection for our development and daily lives. 

Event Sessions:

Speakers	Session
Sue Carter	Sociostasis, oxytocin, and the healing power of love Oxytocin is a peptide molecule with a multitude of physiological and behavioral functions. Based on its association with reproduction, including social bonding, sexual behavior, birth and maternal behavior, oxytocin also has been called “the love hormone.” This presentation will examine parallels between the healing power of oxytocin and love. As described here, many myths and gaps in knowledge remain concerning oxytocin and love. A few of these are described and we hypothesize that the... read more
Karen Bales	The neurobiology of pair bonding in socially monogamous species
Karen Parker	The biological basis of social functioning across a range of species: Vasopressin signaling pathways
Eduardo Fernandez-Duque	Pair-living, sexual monogamy and biparental care
James Rilling	The biology of grandmaternal love
Constantina Theofanopoulou	Oxytocin, vasotocin, and the evolution of human prosociality and speech
Jessica Connelly	Epigenetic regulation of oxytocin receptor genes
Ruth Feldman	Why do we kill each other in the name of “love”?
Lee Gettler	The biology of fatherhood in humans: Evolutionary origins and cross-cultural perspectives

Event Glossary

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