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Love conquers pain

There has been much excitement in the media this week about research that suggests love is a highly effective painkiller.

A small study found that volunteers who were subjected to different levels of painful stimuli felt less pain if they were looking at a picture of a romantic partner. Sadly the truth might not be quite so compelling.

Although researchers found that viewing the pictures did significantly reduce self-reported pain (as opposed to viewing a picture of an equally attractive acquaintance) they did accept the study had a number of limitations. Not least that six of the 15 volunteers correctly guessed the purpose of the experiment which may have affected their responses.

However the researchers believe that the experiment proves that activating certain “reward-processing” systems in the brain by means other than drugs can reduce the experience of pain. Even the sceptics agree that the findings may help further our understanding of the neural pathways involved in relieving pain.

At Your World we’re a romantic bunch so we like the story just as it is; forget anaesthetic just pack a photo!