Trying to Map Love and Hate in the Brain

Oct. 29, 2008— -- When we look at an enemy, hate takes a similar path in our minds to the path taken by love, at least according to a small study published today in the Public Library of Science.

Researchers in Britain used brain imaging to map what happens when people look at photos of individuals they hate, or individuals they neither cared for or hated.

Seventeen people in the study brought in photos of their ex-girlfriends, co-workers, acquaintances and despised public figures. When a photo of their enemy appeared, researchers using functional MRI found a distinctive pattern in the brain.

The researchers, professors Semir Zeki and John Romaya of the Wellcome Laboratory of Neurobiology at the University College of London, called the pattern a "hate circuit."

Researchers also found that some activation of the "hate circuit" in the insular part of the brain was remarkably similar to a previous "love circuit" they found.

"They were almost identical to the ones activated in the love study," said Zeki. "I was mildly surprised, although love can transmute into hate."

Yet, despite the interesting findings, other scientists question how well brain imaging can explain complex emotions.

"There are a number of very good studies now that look at things that seem kind of ineffable," said Scott Huettel, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

Huettel, who was not involved in the research, said scientists are making surprising gains into understanding subtle emotions, such as attachment, altruism and disgust by doing brain imaging with functional MRI.

But Huettel said the multifaceted working of the brain makes studying these emotions an enormous amount of work.

"It's hard for us to make it precise," he said.

According to Huettel, looking at a functional MRI scan is like looking at areas of little computations in the brain. Each area that lights up should be doing something, but what isn't always clear.