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Being in love increases brain activity
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A study by an international group of scientists from the USA and China has shown that the feeling of being in love affects a person’s thinking abilities.
For their study, the specialists used magnetic resonance imaging. The experiment involved 100 volunteers (girls and boys from one university in China). All participants were divided into three groups: the first included those who were in a relationship at the time of the experiment and felt in love, the second - those who had recently broken up with their loved ones, the third - those who had not had a love relationship for a long time.
During the experiment, the participants had to "clear" their heads of any thoughts. During the brain scan, the brain areas associated with reward, motivation, emotion management, and social cognition were active in the participants of the first group (the lovers). The specialists also found that the intensity of these areas was related to the duration of the relationship.
In the second group, in which participants had recently broken up with their loved ones, activity in these areas was reduced, but activity was found in the caudate nucleus of the brain. In the third group (in which participants had been single for a long time), brain activity was reduced.
As a result, experts noted that falling in love has a positive effect on mental activity, making a person "smarter". According to the researchers, the work they have done can be called unique, since it proves that the feeling of falling in love directly affects the work and structure of the brain. Now the experts intend to create a test for "love". According to their plans, such testing will be carried out using brain scanning (magnetic resonance imaging or other method).
Another study conducted by Oxford specialists established that a person's conscience is located in the brain. This study, according to the scientists themselves, confirms that a person experiences a sense of shame because it is inherent in his nature, and not because it is established by moral principles in society. The goal of the experiment was the scientists' desire to scientifically prove the physiological existence of conscience in humans.
This study involved 25 people (men and women). The specialists conducted a thorough study of the structure of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging.
The researchers scanned the prefrontal cortex of the participants' brains, then compared the data with brain scans of monkeys.
As a result, scientists have established that the brain of humans and monkeys is similar in structure. But in their conclusions, the researchers were of the opinion that monkeys do not have a sense of shame and as a result, they determined the place in the human brain where conscience can "hide". In the description of their work, the specialists noted that conscience is small in size and resembles a ball. It is this ball-shaped formation in the brain that sends a signal to a person about the moral assessment of behavior, and also helps a person to divide actions into bad and good.
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