In the last few years I have seen a number of articles with scientists claiming that they have been able to see physical manifestations of love in human brains. The upshot of these articles is that the researchers claimed that the flush of romantic love only lasts between 1 – 3 years.
Just when it looked like the last bit of magic had been stamped out of our bottom line world it looks like “true love” is getting a second chance:
A team from Stony Brook University in New York scanned the brains of couples who had been together for 20 years and compared them with those of new lovers. They found that about one in 10 of the mature couples exhibited the same chemical reactions when shown photographs of their loved ones as people commonly do in the early stages of a relationship.
Granted, “1 in 10” does not sound all of that optimistic, but it looks like the facts are there for magic, at least romantic magic still existing in our world. Furthermore, this study shows that it is possible for it to be measured. If something can be measured then it can be learned how to produce and perhaps more importantly, maintain it.
Its not “The Princess Bride”, but it sounds like a nice compromise between magic and reality.
“Scientists discover true love” by John Harlow and Brendan Montague
