AUTHOR=Yuan Guangjie , Liu Guangyuan , Wei Dongtao 

TITLE=Roles of P300 and Late Positive Potential in Initial Romantic Attraction

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.718847

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2021.718847

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions to potential romantic partners at the initial encounter; it evolved to promote mate selection, allowing individuals to focus their mating efforts on their preferred potential mates. After decades of study, we now have a deeper understanding of the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA; however, little is known regarding the brain mechanisms related to its generation and evaluation. In this study, we combined classic event-related potential (ERP) analysis with dipole source analysis to examine real-time recordings of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals generated while participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners. The EEG signals were categorized into IRA engendered and un-engendered conditions based on behavioral indicators. We found that the faces that resulted in IRA elicited multiple late positivities, including P300 over occipital-parietal regions and late positive potentials (LPPs) over anterior regions. When compared to faces that did not engender IRA, faces that did engender IRA elicited (1) enhanced P300 over parietal regions and heightened neural activity in the insula and cingulate cortex; and (2) larger LPPs over the anterior regions and heightened neural activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, frontal eye field, visual cortex, and insula. These results suggest IRA is generated and evaluated by an extensive brain network involved in emotion processing, attention control, and social evaluations. Furthermore, these findings indicate that P300 and LPP may represent different cognitive processes during IRA.