20 Interesting Facts About Love

1. Monogamous
Relationships Exist
Throughout The Animal
Kingdom
2. It only takes up to 4
minutes to decide whether
you like someone or not
3. When Two Lovers Gaze At
Each Others’ Eyes, Their
Heart Rates Synchronize
4. Falling In Love Has
Neurological Effects Similar
To Those Of Cocaine
5. Cuddling Releases Natural
Painkillers
6. Even Looking At A Picture
Of A Loved One Relieves
The Pain
7. People At The Same Level
Of Attractiveness Are More
Likely To End Up Together
8. Couples Who Are Too
Similar To Each Other Are
not Likely To Last
9. Heartbreak Is Not Just A
Metaphor
10. Romantic Love
Eventually Ends…Only To Be
Followed By Committed
Love
11. People Who Are In Love
Have Chemical Similarities
With People With OCD
12. Thinking Of Love And
Sex Influences Creativity
And Concrete Thinking,
Respectively
13. Attachment + Caring +
Intimacy = Perfect Love
14. An Attractive Face Is
Preferred Over An
Attractive Body For Long-
Term Relationships
15. Holding A Loved One’s
Hand Relieves Pain And
Stress
16. Expressing Gratitude
Towards People You Love
Causes An Immediate Spike
In Your Happiness
17. Butterflies In The
Stomach Are Real And
They’re Actually Caused by
Adrenaline
18. Dilated Pupils Show Your
Attraction To Someone And
Makes You More Attractive
19. Looking Into Each
Others’ Eyes Can Make
Strangers Fall In Love
20. Love Is Really All That
Matters
Love is pure, love is painful, love is sweet
and love is dreadful. True love is
overwhelming. Our lives depend on it and
it often seems like our planet would stop
spinning if love didn’t exist. Love is
something we strive for and something
we mourn the loss of.
A lovesick panda once said that “if you’re
never been hurt, you’re either very lucky,
or very lonely”.
We understand the poetry of the heart,
but over the courses of our lives we tend
to demystify this precious feeling more
and more. We learn about biological
processes that cause specific reactions;
we learn about cultural influences on how
we behave and think about love; we learn
about the psychological and physiological
processes that make us fall for someone.
[Read more...]
Image credits: Vesna Zivcic , EssjayNZ
Even though we often think of ourselves
as a faithful species, we’re not the only
one in the animal kingdom . Wolves,
swans, gibbons, black vultures,
albatrosses and even termites are just a
few of those animals that find a mate for
a lifetime.
Image credits: Kristina Фотограф в
Мексике
If you want to make a good impression on
someone, you’ve only got about 4
minutes to do it. It is believed that it has
far more to do with your body language,
tone and speed of your voice rather than
exactly what you say.
Image credits: Alexander Khokhlov
Some extraordinary research has found
that couples who are in love and bond in
a romantic relationship synchronize their
heart rates after gazing into each others’
eyes for three minutes.
Image credits: Jeremiah Kuehne
Falling in love is much like taking a dose
of cocaine, as both experiences affect the
brain similarly and trigger a similar
sensation of euphoria. Research found
that falling in love produces several
euphoria-inducing chemicals that
stimulate 12 areas of the brain at the
same time.
Image credits: Sara K Byrne
Oxytocin, the so-called love or cuddle
hormone, is produced during an embrace
or cuddle. The hormone appears in the
brain, ovaries and testicles and is thought
to be involved in the bonding
process. Research has found that a dose
of oxytocin decreases headaches
significantly, and for some it even makes
the pain go away completely after 4
hours. It’s definitely worth trying hug and
cuddle medicine before jumping to
chemicals and pills.
Image credits: Benoit Courti
Even though it was long known that the
presence of a significant other has a lot
to do with patients’ improvement, it has
been proved that the same goes for even
a picture of the beloved.
The experiment showed that when
experiencing pain, study participants
exposed to pictures of their beloved and
to distracting word games had their pain
reduced far more than those exposed to
the same distracting word games and
pictures of acquaintances.
Image credits: Rehahn Photography
Many psychological and social research
indicates that there is a significant
pattern in how people choose people to
establish romantic relationships with. This
pattern is explained by the Matching
Hypothesis, which says that people are
more attracted to those that they share a
level of attractiveness with, or, in other
words, are equally socially desirable. Even
if successful couples differ in physical
attractiveness, one of them usually
compensates for it with other socially
desirable qualities.
Image credits: kashia
As the well-known saying goes, opposites
attract. And research proves that this is
partially true. Couples that are either too
similar or too different tend not to last
very long. Apparently, there always has to
be a foundation of similarities, but there
also have to be things that the two of
you learn from each other.
Image credits: Rob Woodcox
Research has provided evidence that
intense, traumatizing events, such as a
break-up, divorce, loss of a loved one,
physical separation from a loved one, or
betrayal can cause real physical pains in
the area of one’s heart. This condition is
called the Broken Heart Syndrome. Deep
emotional distress triggers the brain to
distribute certain chemicals that
significantly weaken one’s heart, leading
to strong chest pains and shortness of
breath. The condition is often
misdiagnosed as heart attack and tends
to affect women more often.
Image credits: Rehahn Photography
Couples at the very beginning of a
romantic relationship will be very different
a year later. It is estimated that romantic
love, which is linked with euphoria,
dependence, sweaty palms, butterflies and
alike, only lasts about a year. After that
first year begins the so-called
“committed love” stage. The transition is
linked with elevated neurotrophin protein
levels in newly formed couples.