A Photograph Of A Loved One Acts As A Pain Reliever

Love is truly a medicine - according to modern research. Stanford University studied the connection between pain and feelings of love. For this, brain scans of 15 students in love were carried out: 8 women and 7 men. Scientists tried to figure out exactly how the brain reacts to pain - for this, the subjects had to touch the heated probe with their palms during the experiment.

The scientific experiment consisted of 3 scenarios. In the first scenario, the participants were to look at a photograph of a friend. In the second - in the photo of a loved one. And in the third - since past research has shown that pain can be temporarily distracted by some activity - the subjects were asked to list sports that did not use the ball.

As a pain reliever, a photograph of a beloved turned out to be almost twice (40%) more effective than a photo of an ordinary acquaintance. It's about a tolerable level of pain. This method reduced intense pain by 10-15% more effectively.

It is interesting that attempts to be distracted by some activity were just as effective, but the mechanism of action turned out to be fundamentally different. The analgesic effects of love and distraction have arisen in different areas of the brain: love activates reward centers (like gambling or drugs do), and distraction activates zones responsible for curiosity, memory, and finding solutions.

Scientists believe that viewing photographs of lovers prompts the dopamine system to interact with other parts of the brain that are capable of releasing natural opioids (their production, by the way, also occurs during intense physical activity).

“If I see how one of the patients has gotten better, and then I find out about this person’s new love, then I don’t think it’s a matter of the medicine I prescribed,” says Dr. Maki. "I understand that it probably doesn't concern me at all."