Bianca Acevedo

Bianca Acevedo is an American research scientist who studies romantic love and sensory processing sensitivity.[1][2][3] Acevedo performed the first neuroimaging study of long-term intense romantic love, couples who were still "madly" in love but had been married for 21 years on average.[4][5][6][2] She is a researcher at Northwell Health, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.[1][7]

Career

Acevedo received a BA in psychology from New York University, and a PhD in social/health psychology from Stony Brook University.[1]

As a postdoctoral researcher, she conducted a study with Arthur Aron (published in 2009) which found that romantic love can last inside relationships much longer than people generally assume. About 13% of people reported high levels of romantic love in their long-term relationships.[8][9] In 2011, their brain scan experiment using fMRI was published, of long-term intense romantic lovers who had been in relationships for 10 years or more. These participants showed brain activations in dopamine-rich areas of the reward system (like the ventral tegmental area) when viewing a photograph of their loved one, similar to people in the early stage of romantic love, but also showed lower levels of anxiety compared to early-stage lovers.[6][2] The early stage of intense romantic love (also called passionate love) has an obsessive element, but people experiencing romantic love in longer-term relationships show lower levels of obsession.[8][9]

Acevedo has written two books on sensory processing sensitivity, related to the concept of a highly sensitive person: The Highly Sensitive Brain: Research, Assessment, and Treatment of Sensory Processing Sensitivity and The Science and Art of Sensory Processing Sensitivity.[1][3][10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "About - Bianca Acevedo, PhD Author - Speaker - Scientist". BiancaAcevedo.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Acevedo, Bianca; Aron, Arthur; Fisher, Helen; Brown, Lucy (5 January 2011). "Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love". Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 7 (2): 145–159. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq092. PMC 3277362. PMID 21208991.
  3. ^ a b Estrada, Andrea (30 October 2024). "Neuroscientist Bianca Acevedo examines the impact and challenges of sensory processing sensitivity". The Current (UC Santa Barbara). Archived from the original on 21 June 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  4. ^ Admin (2011-01-07). "Love Can Last: SBU Imaging Study Shows Brain Activity Of Those In Love Long Term Similar To Those Newly In Love - SBU News". Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  5. ^ Parker-Pope, Tara (4 June 2010). "What Brain Scans Can Tell Us About Marriage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b Staff, TIME (11 January 2011). "What Your Brain Looks Like After 20 Years of Marriage". TIME. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Bianca Acevedo Ph.D." Psychology Today. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Sweet science! Love lasts longer than thought". NBC News. 20 March 2009. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b Acevedo, Bianca; Aron, Arthur (1 March 2009). "Does a Long-Term Relationship Kill Romantic Love?". Review of General Psychology. 13 (1): 59–65. doi:10.1037/a0014226.
  10. ^ Acevedo, Bianca P. (2020-05-20). The Highly Sensitive Brain: Research, Assessment, and Treatment of Sensory Processing Sensitivity. Elsevier Science. ISBN 978-0-12-818251-2.
  11. ^ Acevedo, Bianca P. (2024-07-25). The Science and Art of Sensory Processing Sensitivity. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-323-99728-7.
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