The purpose of this paper is to understand how recent brain imaging research has shed light on th... more The purpose of this paper is to understand how recent brain imaging research has shed light on the development and processes of romantic love in couple relationships and how this research has affected the definition and meaning of romantic love. Recent neuroscience research confirms that brain regions activated in drug addiction overlap with brain areas activated in a person experiencing romantic love. The brain systems that are most activated include the reward network, memory storage, areas of huge vasopressin and oxytocin receptors, and pain reduction. While partial overlap in the reward system occurs for both drug addiction and romantic love, the authors argue that the long-term positive effects of naturally occurring romantic love varies greatly from drug addiction, which is not a naturally occurring activity in the reward system. The authors take the view that because of the long-term positive effects of romantic love, defining it primarily as a drive or goal-oriented behavior like cocaine use minimizes its overall place in the establishment and maintenance of an intimate relationship. Romantic love reflects the implicit memory system that is formed prior to conscious thought. Furthermore, the authors believe that therapy for romantic partners has little in common with therapy for drug addicts. Recent research attests to the involvement of negative emotional activation in the amygdala, which can be blocked without preventing experiencing naturally occurring rewarding behaviors. This finding is counter to research that concluded that emotional systems are not activated by romantic love.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative literary analysis of two early sectarian Je... more The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative literary analysis of two early sectarian Jewish stories to understand the creation and preservation of identity throughout history. The War Scroll expresses the identity of the Essenes as the last righteous interpreters of God, who will not succumb to the surrounding chaos. The Book of Job expresses the identity of the early Jewish people as moral challengers to unjustified suffering. Both stories place emphasis on the groups’ freedom from external oppression/unjustified suffering due to God’s intervention as long as they maintain a moral identity. This paper argues that while it is apparent that the Book of Job and the War Scroll are wildly different in form, content, and contextual history, both were responses to the external struggles each group faced and both emphasized a moral identity for each respective group. The Book of Job, as Wisdom literature, addressed the issue of theodicy and early Jewish identity, and the War Scroll, as apocalyptic literature, addressed the end times and Essene identity. Despite differing approaches, both of these scriptural texts reflected the external political chaos of each group during the time of authorship and the belief that moral behavior or identity was the key to God’s intervention. Though there is discontinuity in practice of the contemporary Jewish traditions and early sectarian Judaism, there is continuity in the experience of suffering as informing their thought and in creating a sense of group identity. This is articulated by the writing of, and the continued faith in, past stories of suffering.
The purpose of this paper is to understand how recent brain imaging research has shed light on th... more The purpose of this paper is to understand how recent brain imaging research has shed light on the development and processes of romantic love in couple relationships and how this research has affected the definition and meaning of romantic love. Recent neuroscience research confirms that brain regions activated in drug addiction overlap with brain areas activated in a person experiencing romantic love. The brain systems that are most activated include the reward network, memory storage, areas of huge vasopressin and oxytocin receptors, and pain reduction. While partial overlap in the reward system occurs for both drug addiction and romantic love, the authors argue that the long-term positive effects of naturally occurring romantic love varies greatly from drug addiction, which is not a naturally occurring activity in the reward system. The authors take the view that because of the long-term positive effects of romantic love, defining it primarily as a drive or goal-oriented behavior like cocaine use minimizes its overall place in the establishment and maintenance of an intimate relationship. Romantic love reflects the implicit memory system that is formed prior to conscious thought. Furthermore, the authors believe that therapy for romantic partners has little in common with therapy for drug addicts. Recent research attests to the involvement of negative emotional activation in the amygdala, which can be blocked without preventing experiencing naturally occurring rewarding behaviors. This finding is counter to research that concluded that emotional systems are not activated by romantic love.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative literary analysis of two early sectarian Je... more The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative literary analysis of two early sectarian Jewish stories to understand the creation and preservation of identity throughout history. The War Scroll expresses the identity of the Essenes as the last righteous interpreters of God, who will not succumb to the surrounding chaos. The Book of Job expresses the identity of the early Jewish people as moral challengers to unjustified suffering. Both stories place emphasis on the groups’ freedom from external oppression/unjustified suffering due to God’s intervention as long as they maintain a moral identity. This paper argues that while it is apparent that the Book of Job and the War Scroll are wildly different in form, content, and contextual history, both were responses to the external struggles each group faced and both emphasized a moral identity for each respective group. The Book of Job, as Wisdom literature, addressed the issue of theodicy and early Jewish identity, and the War Scroll, as apocalyptic literature, addressed the end times and Essene identity. Despite differing approaches, both of these scriptural texts reflected the external political chaos of each group during the time of authorship and the belief that moral behavior or identity was the key to God’s intervention. Though there is discontinuity in practice of the contemporary Jewish traditions and early sectarian Judaism, there is continuity in the experience of suffering as informing their thought and in creating a sense of group identity. This is articulated by the writing of, and the continued faith in, past stories of suffering.
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