In the United States, February 14 is Valentine’s Day -- a day to celebrate lovers and loving relationships. Images of red hearts are everywhere. Lovers say nice things to each other, like “I love you with all my heart” or “I love you heart and soul.” After all, many cultures view a big, beautiful, red heart as the traditional sign of love. But maybe it shouldn’t be. Maybe the symbol of love should be a big, soft, gray brain. As it turns out, love is more an activity of the brain than an affair of the heart. Over the years, research has shown that love affects the brain in many ways and in a number of areas. Psychology Today magazine’s online blog looked at some studies and noted the results. The blog explains that researchers generally use a technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study the brain. This technology can follow movement of blood inside the brain. When a thought, substance, movement, or anything else activates a part of the brain, blood flow to that area increases. So, fMRIs can identify both the exact location in the brain and the amount of blood. The magazine reports that these love studies note something similar: that a brain on love looks a lot like a brain on drugs.
