In the spirit of Saint Valentine's day, I decided to look into the neurobiological origins of feelings. The neural substrates for feelings can be found at all levels of the nervous system, from individual neurons to subcortical nuclei and cortical regions. Since neurobiologists have insight into the brain, and the brain is responsible for feelings, that should make us all good lovers ... right?
The prime candidates for the neural substrates of feelings are regions concerned with interoception, which is the sense that continuously monitors the internal milieu and provides the CNS with real-time information on the state of the body. If one considers the main contributors to interoception, in terms of the traditional Valentine's day gifts and activities, it becomes clear why they are tried and true. The main contributors to interoception are chemosensation (the lovely smell of roses), thermo-algic sensation for temperature (romantic dip in a hot tub) and pain perception (I will leave that one to your imagination) and visceral sensation (the fullness of a gut after fancy dinner or eating chocolates). Okay, maybe that's a little simplistic. But if you want to read more I recommend checking out the following recent review:
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 14, 143-152 (February 2013) | doi:10.1038/nrn3403
OPINION:The nature of feelings: evolutionary and neurobiological origins
Antonio Damasio & Gil B. Carvalho
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