Love Makes Us More Intelligent, According To Neuroscience

It is often said that the one who falls in love loses his mind in one way or another. But now, in fact, neuroscience has proven that the opposite is true! Love makes us more intelligent!

When a person is in love, several things change in the brain and physiology. This experience is very special, for that very reason.

Those who are in love, especially in the early part of the relationship, feel more awake and emotionally connected to the world. They are also more empathetic and compassionate.

In fact, love makes us better people. But beyond that, neuroscience has discovered that love also makes us smarter. Why? The chemistry of love is found mainly in the brain, and the transformation that love entails also reaches the areas that perform cognitive functions.

Love makes us more intelligent

To conclude that love makes us more intelligent, a group of researchers from the University of Chicago scanned the brains of several people who were in love. These images, along with other tests, showed that people who love also think faster, perceive other people’s ideas and behaviors more clearly and are also more creative.

To reach these conclusions, the researchers used electrodes. They placed the electrodes on the participants’ heads and then showed them a series of photographs, including one of their partners. In addition, they also said various names, including the names of their partners.

Then the researchers discovered that 12 brain areas were activated when these people saw their loved one or heard his name. One of the areas that showed particularly intense activity was the parietal lobe, one of the regions areas that are traditionally associated with abstract thinking and creativity. In fact, this activity did not end when participants saw pictures of other people or heard other names.

In love and crazy

The results of the study were quite decisive. In other words, “you do not lose your mind” when you fall in love. In fact, it seems that love actually makes us more intelligent.

In this regard, the researchers compare the parietal lobe with a small robot that can activate a complex neural network, as this area is strongly connected to other brain areas.

The parietal lobe plays a role in functions such as number and language processing as well as very complex autobiographical information. This means that, together with love, we also have a special ability to understand our own behavior in a better way. This happens on a deeper level than in normal situations.

These thoughts and perceptions make loved ones more capable of understanding the behaviors of others on a deeper level. Thus, they perceive other people’s characteristics more effectively and recognize their feelings in a better way. Therefore, researchers have come to the conclusion that love also makes us better people.

Then the storm subsides

It is obvious that all these brain activations and reactions are more intense during the initial love stage. However, another study found that the same effects could also be observed later in the relationship. As long as love was present, there were many real benefits, although this love was not as hot as in the beginning.

A study from the University of California confirmed this. This time, the researchers studied a number of couples who have been together for an average of 21.4 years. What these couples had in common was that they all still claimed that they were in love with their respective partner. The researchers found that their brains reacted in the same way as the couples we mentioned above, who were newly in love.

Something that was particularly observed was an increased amount of dopamine in their brains. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that has beneficial effects on the human mood and that also affects cognitive activity. Basically, it helps to regulate and modulate information flows. In this regard, a dopamine deficiency leads to problems with memory, attention and problem solving.

Based on all this, we can come to the conclusion that love really makes us more intelligent. This intelligence not only applies to strictly cognitive issues but also encompasses the wider world of emotional intelligence.