About UsResearch Results
2001–2008 projects2009–current projectsrequest for proposal

Approached to Defining Mechanisms by which Altruistic Love Affects Health


Click to review Defining Mechanisms white paper.

The chain of events leading from negative emotional responses to external events to impact on disease has been well worked out. There has been less research into the application of the same model to studying the effects of positive emotional responses on health. The same approaches and standards that have been used in the stress literature can be applied to the studying of the chain of events leading from altruistic love to beneficial effects on health. It is possible that the mechanism by which altruistic love affects health occurs through blocking or attenuating the stress response, or through activating positive neurotransmitter pathways in the brain.

What can we learn about the neurobiology of altruistic love?
What are the neurohormonal and neurotransmitter transduction mechanisms associated with altruistic love?
Does altruistic love positively affect specific aspects of immune cell function or other measurable elements of health or disease? If so, are these effects mediated through neurophysiological pathways, neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and neurohormones activated by altruistic love?
How do learning, memory, and early maternal environmental factors impact the development of altruistic love behaviors?

*Click to download the complete RFP

Request for Proposal:

Introduction and Background
Mechanism of Support
Eligibility and Criteria

Program Areas:

  1. Human Development
  2. Public Health and Medicine
  3. Mechanisms by which Altruistic Love Affects Health
  4. Other Regarding Virtues
  5. Evolutionary Perspectives
  6. Sociological Studies of Faith Based Communities

Application Procedures

 

<Back    Next Page>