Looking at Photos of Your Loved One Has an Analgesic Effect Like Paracetmol

Looking at the picture of your romantic partner reduces pain by dulling the activity in the pain processing area of the human brain, to the same degree as paracetmol or cocaine, say scientists at the Standford University, California. Numerous positive emotions were triggered by looking at photos and the physical pain was dulled.

During the study, scientists studied the MRI reports of love struck students who were asked to focus on the photos of their loved ones while they were subjected to varying degrees of heat pain on their skin. Neuroscientist Jarred Younger found that the average pain the students experienced was reduced by 36-44%, while intense pain was reduced by 13%. Jarred said, "The reduction of pain is associated with higher, cortical parts of the brain." The nucleus accumbens is the key site for this analgesic effect caused by looking at the photos of their loved ones.

Source: Medindia