Love can ease pain, say brain researchers

[Prince Myshkin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11537063

 

Love hurts, at least according to many a romantic songwriter, but it may also help ease pain, US scientists suggest.

 

Brain scans suggest many of the areas normally involved in pain response are also activated by amorous thoughts.

 

Stanford University researchers gave 15 students mild doses of pain, while checking if they were distracted by gazing at photos of their beloved.

 

The study focused on people early in a romance, journal PLoS One reported, so the "drug of love" may wear off.

 

The scientists who carried out the experiment used "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (fMRI) to measure activity in real-time in different parts of the brain.

 

It has been known for some time that strong feelings of love are linked to intense activity in several different brain regions.

 

These include areas linked to the brain chemical dopamine, which produces the brain's feel-good state following certain stimulants - from eating sweets to taking cocaine.

 

The Stanford University researchers had noticed that when we feel pain, some of the same areas "light up" on the scans - and wondered whether one might affect the other.

 

They recruited a dozen students who were all in the first nine months of a relationship, defined as "the first phase of intense love".

 

Each was asked to bring in a picture of the object of their affection and photos of what they deemed an equally attractive acquaintance.

 

While their brains were scanned, they were shown these pictures, while a computer controlled heat pad placed in the palm of their hand was set up to cause them mild pain.

 

They found that viewing the picture of their beloved reduced perceptions of pain much more than looking at the image of the acquaintance.

 

Dr Jarred Younger, one of the researchers involved, said that the "love-induced analgesia" appeared to involve more primitive functions of the brain, working in a similar way to opioid painkillers.

 

"One of the key sites is the nucleus accumbens, a key reward addiction centre for opioids, cocaine and other drugs of abuse.

 

"The region tells the brain that you really need to keep doing this."

 

Professor Paul Gilbert, a neuropsychologist from the University of Derby, said that the relationship between emotional states and the perception of pain was clear.

 

He said: "One example is a footballer who has suffered quite a painful injury, but who is able to continue playing because of his emotionally charged state."

 

He added that while the effect noticed by the Stanford researchers might only be short-lived in the early stages of a love affair, it may well be replaced by something similar later in a relationship, with a sense of comfort and wellbeing generating the release of endorphins.

 

"It's important to recognise that people who feel alone and depressed may have very low pain thresholds, whereas the reverse can be true for people who feel secure and cared for.

 

"This may well be an issue for the health service, as patients are sometimes rushed through the system, and perhaps there isn't this focus on caring that might have existed once."

 

[eff-exx]

What kind of love?

[Prince Myshkin]

I'm unsure. All I know is what it says in the article and I didn't really read it. Just thought it might spark debate so I stuck it up there for anybody interested.

[eff-exx]

Lulz, when a person is already in pain, it takes a lot of energy to think about his/her love ones.

 

Though I think we can take in context of our parents who have body aches yet they would still bring us up and prepare our dinner etc. because they love us.

[i'maveryneatMonster.']

It's all about endorphins.

Not in love? Not as many endorphins.

 

As simple as that :thinking: They should invest their time doing research on AIDS or CJD or infant genetic diseases instead of wasting their money on stupid little experiments like this one.

[Wherrwhfer]

In the General Discussion Area you can only see the title of this thread as "Love can ease pain, say brain".

 

Brain.

[i'maveryneatMonster.']

In the General Discussion Area you can only see the title of this thread as "Love can ease pain, say brain".

 

Brain.

 

You never have anything productive to say, do you?

[eff-exx]

It's all about endorphins.

Not in love? Not as many endorphins.

 

As simple as that :thinking: They should invest their time doing research on AIDS or CJD or infant genetic diseases instead of wasting their money on stupid little experiments like this one.

 

Hear da doctor! :awesome:

 

What do endorphins do?

[Wherrwhfer]

You never have anything productive to say, do you?

 

No.

[Prince Myshkin]

It's all about endorphins.

Not in love? Not as many endorphins.

 

As simple as that :thinking: They should invest their time doing research on AIDS or CJD or infant genetic diseases instead of wasting their money on stupid little experiments like this one.

 

Everything should be explored and hopefully explained.

I wouldn't limit research.

[i'maveryneatMonster.']

Everything should be explored and hopefully explained.

I wouldn't limit research.

 

That is pretty useless and it's widely known that being in love makes you happy, and being happy means having a better life in every aspect.

 

A cure for diseases on the other hand..

[Prince Myshkin]

That is pretty useless and it's widely known that being in love makes you happy, and being happy means having a better life in every aspect.

 

A cure for diseases on the other hand..

 

Stop all research and direct it all to diseases, everybody.

 

There is so much research that takes place it's incredible. This is just from one university. As explained in the article research like this can be used to implement changes in Care work.

[i'maveryneatMonster.']

Stop all research and direct it all to diseases, everybody.

 

There is so much research that takes place it's incredible. This is just from one university. As explained in the article research like this can be used to implement changes in Care work.

 

Still, it's wasting money that could be used on something more useful.

I'd understand if it was something we didn't know about, but this? Love? It's widely known.

And your comment is just annoying. I really do hope you never get an incurable disease, with research on a cure stopped cos there's no money cos it's being spent on something else just cos it's a bit more interesting.

 

Good one Greg.

[Prince Myshkin]

Still, it's wasting money that could be used on something more useful.

I'd understand if it was something we didn't know about, but this? Love? It's widely known.

And your comment is just annoying. I really do hope you never get an incurable disease, with research on a cure stopped cos there's no money cos it's being spent on something else just cos it's a bit more interesting.

 

Good one Greg.

 

It isn't wasting money if this can be used to implement changes in care work and improve the standards for people dealing with illness. This includes people with incurable diseases.

 

I'm simply saying that there is no point in saying that these people should have been studying aids. They might not know the first thing about aids. Should they therefore give up all their money to those researching incurable diseases and just sit there doing nothing themselves?

 

I myself hope I do not get an incurable disease, but if I do then I won't be holding these guys responsible.

[i'maveryneatMonster.']

It is. This particular one is.

But I won't bother anymore, let's see when we're all sick and there's no money for vaccines! =D

[Prince Myshkin]

It is. This particular one is.

But I won't bother anymore, let's see when we're all sick and there's no money for vaccines! =D

 

(I hadn't finishes editing my above post before your reply, if you care)

 

Yeah, this study will be the end of the world!

[i'maveryneatMonster.']

How would I know you're about to edit your post :thinking:?

But hey, just making a point.

 

Let's not jump that much.

They could use the money by giving free treatment to people who can't pay for a doctor.

 

Any idea of how much an fMRI costs?

[Reilly]

I'm with Alexa here on that this is a stupid and pointless experiment and a waste of thought/conversation and it does piss me off when I see stupid articles about crap that's just a waste of time. The experiment didn't need to be done, it's very well documented that thinking about positive thoughts can increase the pain threshold. For example certain tribes of people around the world prove their love for their God by praying, meditating, and subjecting themselves to torture or running over white hot rocks (And amazingly emerge without any burns or scars).

 

I don't necessarily think every penny needs to be spent on diseases (And Alexa didn't necessarily say that despite the stupid shit Greg's been spewing) but surely there has to be something better to be funded then this pointless shit.

 

Also, it's not as if this one experiment is what bugs me, it's shit like this that's pointless and on-running (And normally Mark posts it, that mustn't be a good feeling Greg).

 

Stop all research and direct it all to diseases, everybody.

 

Gimp!

[Cyan Kat]

I Agree with you this wasn't exactly a huge beneficial experiment and I Think more should be spent on cures for cancer and not as much on things like spacerockets which breakdown. I'm not saying that all other work is unimportant it just seems that sometimes our money is wasted on some research.

[nouratan]

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww love can do anything :dozey:

[Reilly]

Even spending money on rockets that break down is fine because at least they can find a reason as to why it broke down and how to fix it to someday fix every problem so eventually you have a rocket that works- progress. However, running an experiment that confirms something that we already know is just a big waste of time, and it happens everyday.

 

I honestly think certain universities run experiments like this in the hope that the media bite the hook, if thats true this has to be one of them. There's no way anyone involved in these studies were expecting anything other then the pain threshold to get larger, but instead of using pictures of kittens and cake, they used pictures of the people's partners to make a cheesy lovey dovey news headline.