Love Facts

It may be continually debated that men and women are from different planets, but are they really? Sure, we feel love as an emotion, but like most things, there’s actually a science to it. These little known facts about love may shed some light on some of life’s great mysteries so read on.

It’s like looking in a mirror
Have you ever known a couple that looked like brother and sister? Probably, since it’s a pretty common phenomenon – and as it turns out, not a strange one. According to scientists at the University of Liverpool, our brains favor familiar faces. Given a number of digitally altered images of human faces, 200 study participants preferred faces with the features they found most like their own or their family members.

We locked eyes across a room…
Another recent study revealed that when a woman enters a room, she is perceived as more attractive by men if she turns her eyes toward a certain man. Note: it can be any man! Researchers at Dartmouth University asked men to look at photos of the faces of fashion models, some turned to make eye contact and others looking away. They were asked to rate the likeability of each model and sure enough – the ones making “eye contact” were preferred every time! The models who looked away were considered less likeable and even disagreeable! Researchers concluded that a woman’s gaze is a powerful tool and nonverbal communication is responsible for a good portion of the impressions we form.

I just knew!
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studying the behavior of singles say that people don’t need a lot of time or information to know if they’re interested in someone. Research suggests that we know “it” (a person who is appealing to us) when we see it. They found that both men and women assessed potential compatibility within moments of meeting using primarily visual cues. One researcher explained, “Somewhat surprisingly, factors that you might think would be really important to people – like religion, education, and income – played very little roles in their choices.”

They’re driving me crazy
You may have thought it was just a turn of phrase, but no. It’s official. Love makes people crazy according to researchers at the University of London. For starters, falling in love causes serotonin levels in the brain to drop, causing obsession. Then it increases production of cortisol, a stress hormone that causes high blood pressure and potential loss of sleep. And to make matters worse, when we look at our new loves, the neural circuits that control social judgment are suppressed, which may explain the phrase “blinded by love.”