title: Preoccupations and behaviors associated with romantic and parental love. Perspectives on the origin of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: This article first examines the hypothesis that the early phases of romantic love and early parental love share phenomenologically an overlapping set of mental states and behaviors. Second, the authors consider what is known of the neurobiologic substrates of these behaviors. Third, the authors evaluate the hypothesis that these highly conserved behavioral and neural systems and the genetic messages that guide their development are intimately involved in the pathogenesis of OCD.
authors.affiliation: james.leckman@yale.edu
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Leckman
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008149:Love; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*