Love increases the activity of the brain
Last reviewed: 30.05.2018
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The study of an international group of scientists from the US and China showed that a sense of love affects the human thinking ability.
For their research, specialists used magnetic resonance imaging. The experiment involved 100 volunteers (girls and boys from one university in China). All the participants were divided into three groups: first those who were at the time of the experiment in the relationship and experienced a feeling of love, in the second - who, recently broke up with their loved ones, in the third - who had not had a loving relationship for a long time.
During the experiment participants had to "clear" their head of any thoughts. During the scan of the brain, the participants in the first group (lovers) actively worked on the brain departments related to reward, motivation, management of emotions and social cognition. Also, the specialists managed to find out that the intensity of the work of these sites was interrelated with the duration of the relationship.
In the second group, in which participants recently broke up with their loved ones, the activity of these sites was reduced, but activity was detected in the caudate nucleus of the brain. In the third group (where participants were for a long time without a relationship), the activity of the brain was reduced.
As a result, experts noted that love has a positive effect on thinking activity, makes a person "smarter". According to the researchers, the work done by them can be called unique, as it proves that a feeling of love directly affects the work and structure of the brain. Now the specialists are going to create a test for "love". According to their plans, such testing will be carried out by scanning the brain (magnetic resonance tomograph or otherwise).
In another study, conducted by Oxford specialists, it was found that the conscience of a person is in the brain. This research, according to the scientists themselves, confirms that a person feels a sense of shame, because it is inherent in his nature, and not because it is so established by moral principles in societies. The aim of the experiment was the scientists' striving to prove scientifically the physiological existence of conscience in humans.
In this study, 25 people (men and women) participated. Specialists conducted a thorough study of the structure of the brain using a magnetic resonance tomograph.
Researchers scanned the prefrontal cortex of the participants in the experiment, then they compared the findings with the results of brain scans of monkeys.
As a result, scientists have established that the brain of a man and a monkey is similar in structure. But in their conclusions the researchers held the opinion that monkeys lack a sense of shame and as a result, they determined the place in the brain of a person where conscience can "hide". In describing their work, experts noted that the conscience is small and similar to a ball. It is this ball-like formation in the brain that sends a signal to a person about the moral assessment of behavior, and also helps a person to divide up actions into bad and good ones.
[