A neurofunctional signature of romantic love predicts rewards on social media, effects of oxytocin and drug-cue reactivity

Wu, Y.; Gan, X.; Jiao, G.; Hurlemann, R.; Scheele, D.; Zhou, X.; Zhang, R.; Zhou, F.; Jiang, H.; Fu, K.; Wang, J.; Teng, Y.; Becker, B.

doi:10.64898/2026.08.10.744060

bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.08.10.744060

A neurofunctional signature of romantic love predicts rewards on social media, effects of oxytocin and drug-cue reactivity

Wu, Y.·Gan, X.·Jiao, G.·Hurlemann, R.·Scheele, D.·Zhou, X.·Zhang, R.·Zhou, F.·Jiang, H.·Fu, K.·Wang, J.·Teng, Y.·Becker, B.

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Abstract

Romantic love is a selective motivational state supporting pair bonding, yet its neural representation and relation to other affiliative-rewarding experiences remain unclear. Across eight fMRI studies (n=420) spanning naturalistic affiliative-reward, pharmacological and addiction-relevant experiments, we developed and evaluated multivariate whole-brain decoders of romantic love and friendship. Both signatures engaged mesocorticolimbic reward systems and the precuneus, yet were dissociable at the whole-brain level and in their recruitment of social-cognitive systems. The love signature generalized to reward on social media, was specific to positive valence, and did not track sweet-taste or monetary reward, indicating a distinct social-affiliative reward representation. Oxytocin selectively increased love - but not friendship - signature reactivity to the romantic partner. In an independent drug-cue-reactivity dataset, the love signature specifically identified heavy cannabis users. These findings establish a dissociable neurofunctional signature of romantic love in conserved bonding circuits that extend to digital affiliation and are co-opted in addiction.

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Wu, Y., Gan, X., Jiao, G., Hurlemann, R., Scheele, D., Zhou, X., Zhang, R., Zhou, F., Jiang, H., Fu, K., Wang, J., Teng, Y., Becker, B.. 2026-08-19. A neurofunctional signature of romantic love predicts rewards on social media, effects of oxytocin and drug-cue reactivity. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.08.10.744060

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