It’s love at first rostromedial prefrontal cortex

Is there really such a thing as love at first sight?

Or do we only decide if we are attracted to someone when we’ve had a bit of time to figure them out?

According to researchers at Trinity College Dublin, first impressions certainly play a part in deciding whether we want to start a relationship or not.

More than 150 single, heterosexual students were enlisted to take part in a series of three speed-dating nights with a difference.

While they still had to sit down for the nervous “get-to-know-you” chat, the person sitting opposite them was not entirely unfamiliar to 39 of the eager daters.

Before the dates, some of the students had been shown pictures of some of the men and women they were about to be introduced to. While they were looking at the pictures, their brain activity was monitored by a magnetic resonance imaging machine to see how it reacted to seeing the person for the first time. In each case, they were also asked to detail how likeable and attractive the person was, and rate the person at on a scale of 1-4 depending on how much they would like a date with them.

The brief dates proceeded as normal, rotating round the room for a series of five-minute interludes.

Afterwards, just as occurs following any speed-dating session, people were asked to write down the names of those people whom they had just met who had sparked a romantic interest in them.

Of the 39 pre-scanned participants, 63% backed up their preferences in the photograph session by showing an interest in dating the person after the real-life encounter.

In their article for the Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers pinpointed two parts of the brain’s frontal cortex as the areas which were responsible for the impulsive view of the person before them.

They said neural activity in the paracingulate cortex and the rostromedial prefrontal cortex were predictive of whether each individual would be ultimately pursued for a romantic relationship or rejected.

“Activity in these areas was attributable to two distinct components of romantic evaluation: Either consensus judgments about physical beauty [paracingulate cortex] or individualised preferences based on a partner’s perceived personality rostromedial prefrontal cortex,” said researchers.

They said even a first glance can accurately predict romantic desire but that glance involved a mix of physical and psychological judgements made in specific areas of the front of the brain.

“These really are separate processes,” said Jeffrey Cooper, a psychology researcher who conducted the study. “But they really are both happening in your head as you make those initial evaluations.”