Medical proof that love doesn't hurt
Source: Agencies |
October 15, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FALLING in love can act as a potent painkiller, and now scientists have discovered the reason. It stimulates the brain's reward pathway, much like the rush of an addictive drug.
The next question is whether better understanding of the love-pain relationship might somehow help scientists tackle chronic pain - love can't be prescribed.
But "maybe prescribing a little passion in one's relationship can go a long way toward helping with one's chronic pain - assuming it's passion with the one you're with," said study co-author Dr Sean Mackey, chief of pain management at Stanford °?University in the United States.
The story begins with psychology professor Arthur Aron of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who studies the neurology of love. His work has linked that euphoric phase of a fresh romance to brain regions rich in the chemical dopamine. Dopamine is key to what's called the brain's reward pathway, the feel-good mechanisms that encourage certain behaviors. Eating sweets, for example, boosts this system - and addictive drugs like cocaine hijack it.
"When people are in love, in many ways it's not unlike what they get when they take amphetamines or stimulants. They're very excited, have loss of appetite, sleep loss, they're active, full of energy," noted Dr Nora Volkow, director of the °?National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and a dopamine expert.
Then pain specialists noticed that if someone in an intense romance gazes at a picture of his or her lover while being poked or prodded, they feel less pain.
Is it because their love is distracting them from the pain? Specialists often advise sufferers to listen to music or try other steps to take their mind off the pain. Or did love work some other way? Mackey and Stanford colleague Dr Jarred Younger teamed up with Aron to find out.
They put up signs seeking love-struck Stanford students and within hours couples were flocking in. "The easiest study we have ever recruited for in my career," said Mackey.
Fifteen people underwent tests. They looked at either a picture of their new love or a picture of an °?attractive acquaintance, or were given distracting tasks such as to list sports that don't involve balls. Researchers touched them with a hot wand to induce moderate pain, and scanned their brains.
Looking at their loved one and distraction produced equal pain °?relief. The distraction worked through perception pathways while the romance triggered a surge in the reward pathway, the team reported.
That means the brain can generate pain-controlling responses without medications and perhaps, "if we understood them better, we could trigger them," said NIDA's Volkow.
The next question is whether better understanding of the love-pain relationship might somehow help scientists tackle chronic pain - love can't be prescribed.
But "maybe prescribing a little passion in one's relationship can go a long way toward helping with one's chronic pain - assuming it's passion with the one you're with," said study co-author Dr Sean Mackey, chief of pain management at Stanford °?University in the United States.
The story begins with psychology professor Arthur Aron of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who studies the neurology of love. His work has linked that euphoric phase of a fresh romance to brain regions rich in the chemical dopamine. Dopamine is key to what's called the brain's reward pathway, the feel-good mechanisms that encourage certain behaviors. Eating sweets, for example, boosts this system - and addictive drugs like cocaine hijack it.
"When people are in love, in many ways it's not unlike what they get when they take amphetamines or stimulants. They're very excited, have loss of appetite, sleep loss, they're active, full of energy," noted Dr Nora Volkow, director of the °?National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and a dopamine expert.
Then pain specialists noticed that if someone in an intense romance gazes at a picture of his or her lover while being poked or prodded, they feel less pain.
Is it because their love is distracting them from the pain? Specialists often advise sufferers to listen to music or try other steps to take their mind off the pain. Or did love work some other way? Mackey and Stanford colleague Dr Jarred Younger teamed up with Aron to find out.
They put up signs seeking love-struck Stanford students and within hours couples were flocking in. "The easiest study we have ever recruited for in my career," said Mackey.
Fifteen people underwent tests. They looked at either a picture of their new love or a picture of an °?attractive acquaintance, or were given distracting tasks such as to list sports that don't involve balls. Researchers touched them with a hot wand to induce moderate pain, and scanned their brains.
Looking at their loved one and distraction produced equal pain °?relief. The distraction worked through perception pathways while the romance triggered a surge in the reward pathway, the team reported.
That means the brain can generate pain-controlling responses without medications and perhaps, "if we understood them better, we could trigger them," said NIDA's Volkow.
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