Love can conquer pain, says new study
Researchers say pain can be blocked out of the brain by those who are in the early passionate phase of a relationship. Picture: Getty Images
Love is the drug that can conquer pain, new research suggests.
Intense feelings of romantic love block physical pain in a similar way to morphine, a study has shown.
Scientists in the US tested the theory on 15 male and female university students who were in the passionate early stages of a love affair. They were shown photos of their partners while a computer-controlled heat probe placed in their hands delivered mild doses of pain.
At the same time, the students had their brains scanned by a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging machine.
The study showed that feelings of love, triggered by seeing a photo of one's beloved, acted as a powerful analgesic.
Focusing on a photo of an attractive acquaintance rather than a relationship partner did not have the same benefit.
The scans revealed that the effects of love could be compared with those of morphine and cocaine, both of which target the brain's "reward centres".
Study leader Dr Sean Mackey, head of the Division of Pain Management at Stanford University Medical Centre in California, said: "When people are in this passionate, all-consuming phase of love, there are significant alterations in their mood that are impacting their experience of pain.
"We're beginning to tease apart some of these reward systems in the brain and how they influence pain. These are very deep, old systems in our brain that involve dopamine -- a primary neurotransmitter that influences mood, reward and motivation.
"We intentionally focused on this early phase of passionate love," said Dr Mackey. "We specifically were not looking for longer-lasting, more mature phases of the relationship. We wanted subjects who were feeling euphoric, energetic, obsessively thinking about their beloved, craving their presence."
- John von Radowitz
Irish Independent
