Limbic resonance: what it is and how it affects relationships

Aristotle said that the human being is a social being by nature, and as such he needs to establish relationships with other people. to survive and to self-realize, being also fundamental for its correct development during the first years of life. lifetime.

In this way, limbic resonance consists of a person's ability to establish a connection on an emotional level and a physiological synchronization through empathy towards relatives, intervening in this process several brain areas such as the limbic system and this connection is essential for the maintenance of good health mental.

In this article we will talk about where the concept of limbic resonance comes from and we will also explain in more detail what it consists of and how it influences the life of the human being.

• Related article: "Limbic System: The Emotional Part of the Brain"

What is limbic resonance?

The theoretical concept known as limbic resonance was presented for the first time in the year 2000 within the book "A General Theory of Love"

, written by University of California psychiatry professors Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon. Limbic resonance would be one of the 3 main concepts that are interrelated in this work. Let's see what they are.

First of all, our loved ones measurably affect our brain chemistry Y nervous system in general, which is what we would understand by “limbic resonance”.

Second, this book talks about the idea that our systems would sync with those of people nearby; that is, with those who have some kind of significant relationship with us of any kind (p. g., family, partner, friends, etc.). This has very profound implications for emotional health and also for personality throughout our lives; it would be a process that is known by the name of “limbic regulation”.

And thirdly, the aforementioned patterns can be modified through therapeutic practices, and it would be this process that was called "limbic review" in the book.

An example of limbic resonance can be found within the dynamics of television, where it has been suggested that the canned laughter that appears in some series (for example, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a half men, etc.) were included within this type of series in order to give viewers lonely viewers the feeling of having other people around them laughing around them at those moments when the characters say or do something comical Therefore, the limbic resonance in these cases would explain the need for that audience that is laughing at any situation that is funny.

Therefore, based on what we have just seen, we could say that the theoretical concept of limbic resonance consists of that capacity of a person to share with others deep emotional states that originate in the brain, and more specifically in the limbic system. Some circuits such as norepinephrine, which is responsible for causing some emotional states such as anger, fear or anxiety, are involved in this process; as well as the dopamine circuit, which is responsible for promoting feelings of empathic harmony.

In other words, limbic resonance would be that capacity for non-verbal connection and empathy with relatives, present in the human being, forming part of the essence of their relationships social. In addition, in many forms of therapy and psychotherapy we can find this type of connection as one of the foundations for the therapeutic process to be effective.

• You may be interested: "Empathy, much more than putting yourself in the place of the other"

Is limbic resonance an exclusive mechanism of the human being?

As we have seen, limbic resonance is a capacity for connection at a non-verbal and empathetic level with other beings that serves to form social relations, since our central nervous system is not independent, since it has been been able to verify in various studies that you can get in tune with the people around us in a close; It should be noted that the mirror neurons found in our brain have some influence on this process of connection with others.

But this process does not only occur in humans, since some scientific advances of the last decades based on observing the limbic system reveal that this is not exclusive to the human being, other animals being present vertebrates.

According to the discoveries and theories about the limbic system, it is this sophisticated brain system that is fundamentally in charge of the need for pup care through attachment, favoring the advancement and survival of the species. It is from this process that the mechanism of limbic resonance begins to originate, becoming more and more sophisticated with the passage of time, and it is that attachment is something very necessary for our species, so we would need to experience it with several people throughout our lives (p. g., with our parents and grandparents, later with our children and grandchildren, etc.).

On the other hand, that need to establish a connection on an emotional level and also a physiological synchronization through empathy towards our relatives is essential. for the maintenance of good mental health, since thanks to mechanisms such as limbic resonance we can feel understood, supported and accompanied, being the greatest sources of satisfaction that we could have, because they facilitate the establishment of the deepest relationships with other people, allowing a person to feel loved.

• Related article: "History of Psychology: authors and main theories"

Can its effects be exploited?

After the concept of limbic resonance was used in the year 2000 in the book "A General Theory of Love" has become increasingly popular through various investigations that have been carried out subsequently. It has been very useful within the field of psychology when studying about the psychological development of people throughout their lives, and about the utmost importance of empathy and human relationships.

On the other hand, the limbic resonance has been highly emphasized by psychologists because empathy could be considered as one of the most important qualities for the human being: its absence is closely related to various problems both social and at the personal or individual level.

The phenomenon of limbic resonance has also been known to take advantage within the field of marketing, since brands are aware that when people come to empathize with a particular product through their association with a particular person or story, it is more likely that said product will impact that person and, therefore, the chances that he will acquire the product will be greater.

A phenomenon similar to the one that occurs inside the briefcase could also be an explanation for the success of today's influencers, since that they are more likely to be followed by people who identify with what they show on their networks or feel that they have similar tastes.

In this sense, it could be said that the more emotions they express and evoke in their followers through their content, such as the videos or photos they upload to their networks, they could create greater limbic resonance with their followers, some examples of this being when a youtuber or streamer shows personal things on his networks or when he carries out live broadcasts to interact with his followers, thus showing himself closer to them.