The Neural Correlates of Product Attachment to Cosmetics: Is It Similar to That of Attachment in Human Relationships?

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the similarities in the attachment toward individual's favorite cosmetics and beloved person, both of which are reinforced by touch-driven behaviors. We conducted 2 (visual and visual with tactile) × 2 (preferred and non-preferred cosmetics) experiments. Thereafter, we set regions of interest as per previous studies of human relationship attachment and tested their significance. The hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), putamen, periaqueductal gray (PAG), dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), and ventral tegmental area were activated in the visual with tactile session, but not in the visual session, revealing that common brain regions are activated in human relationship attachment and attachment to cosmetics, and that tactile cue is important for attachment to cosmetics. Moreover, the PAG showed an interactive effect between tactile cue and preference, and the DRN positively correlated with "security" feeling associated with attachment. Activity in these regions was positively correlated with activity of the PCC and primary somatosensory cortex. This suggests that tactile discriminative cues induce the individual's autobiographical memories of using the cosmetics daily, and the DRN and PAG are activated in association with these memories. These serotonergic and oxytocinergic activities may be critical for the maintenance of attachment to cosmetics.