Scientists Locate Brain's Sentimental Center

Same Spot as Sex Urges

By Mat Probasco, Newser Staff

Posted May 20, 2009 4:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – It turns out sex and sentimentality are linked after all, reports Reuters. Scientists have pinpointed areas of the brain that determine an individual's warm and fuzzy feelings—which they say are the same regions that control sex and some food urges. Researchers hope the findings may help explain brain evolution and give insights into social psychiatric disorders like autism and schizophrenia.

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Scientists say areas of the brain that control sex and food urges also control whether you are a "people person" or not. (BBC)

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Maybe the brain structure that supports social interaction evolved out of the brain structures that supported basic
survival drives.
- Graham Murray of Cambridge University.

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Scientists Locate Brain's Sentimental Center