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일반적인 사랑은 상대방에게 대가를 바라는 반면 그보다 더 깊은 희생적인 사랑은 보상을 구하지 않는 것으로 나타났다.
예일대 의대 연구진에 따르면 진심으로 타인의 행복을 바라면 코카인 등의 자극에 반응하는 뇌의 보상회로의 활동이 억제되는 것으로 나타났다.
연구진이 이 두 종류의 사랑을 비교하기 위해 기능성자기공명영상(fMRI)를 살펴본 결과 사랑하는 사람의 사진을 보여줬을 때 보상회로가 강하게 활성화되는 반면 숙련된 명상가들이 마음속으로 “모든 존재들이 항상 행복하기를”과 같은 말을 되뇌었을 때 이 부분의 활동은 사라지는 것으로 나타났다.
이러한 명상은 불교에서 강조되는 수행법의 이를 통한 희생적인 사랑을 보여준 예로는 마더 테레사와 달라이 라마가 있다.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
<관련 영문 기사>
Selfless love turns off brain's reward area, researchers say
Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine say selfless love turns off the area of the brain associated with reward.
While general feelings of love activate the same reward areas of the brain as cocaine, selfless love shuts that area down, CBS News reported.
"When we truly, selflessly wish for the well-being of others, we're not getting that same rush of excitement that comes with, say, a tweet from our romantic love interest, because it's not about us at all," Judson Brewer, adjunct professor of psychiatry at Yale, now at the University of Massachusetts, told the Yale News.
Brewer and his colleague Kathleen Garrison, postdoctoral researcher in Yale's Department of Psychiatry, say their study is focused on how a person can turn off the brain's reward center by silently repeating sayings during meditation -- a common practice in Buddhism.
"The intent of this practice is to specifically foster selfless love -- just putting it out there and not looking for or wanting anything in return," Brewer said. "If you're wondering where the reward is in being selfless, just reflect on how it feels when you see people out there helping others, or even when you hold the door for somebody the next time you are at Starbucks."
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
