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By Jonny Lupsha, News Writer
February 14 marks Valentine’s Day and encourages gifts for romantic couples. The holiday dates back to at least the 5th century and is generally recognized by providing the couple with gifts intended to symbolize affection. Falling in love greatly affects the human brain.
On February 14, people celebrate Valentine’s Day, a holiday meant to honor romantic couples. History.com explained: “Every year on February 14, people exchange cards, candy or flowers with their special ‘Valentine’.” The website read: “St. Valentine’s Day is named after a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has its origins in the Roman festival Lupercalia. “
Lupercalia was an ancient Roman fertility festival that took place on February 15. In modern culture, Valentine’s Day focuses on people in love. When your brain falls in love, it undergoes remarkable changes.
First glance
Whether or not there is love at first sight, scientists have learned a great deal about how we respond to attractive faces. Some of this insight comes from how we react when we see faces that have been digitally altered to appear less attractive.
“When you see someone with a beautiful face, there is a sense of pleasure that many people report,” said Dr. Peter M. Vishton, associate professor of psychology at William & Mary, in a lecture for The Great Courses. “It just feels good to look at someone who is handsome or beautiful. Most of the people, seeing [a] Distorted face would report appearing aversive. It creates a slightly unpleasant sensation. “
According to Dr. Vishton, brain imaging studies show that when we look at an attractive face, rather than an unattractive face, certain brain systems are activated. Those systems that show greater activity are associated with pleasure. They are subcortical circuits near the nucleus accumbens. Unattractive faces trigger responses in the amygdala, which is a brain region associated with negative emotions and our “fight or flight” response.
Deep skin
It has long been believed that the brain works differently when someone is in love, and studies have been done to that effect.
“This has often been studied by recording the activity of the nervous system while a person thinks or looks at a photograph of someone they have a romantic love for,” said Dr. Vishton. “The data is then contrasted with the activity of the nervous system while viewing other photos, for example of other very familiar people for whom the participants do not feel love.
“Keep in mind that this is important, as we know that familiarity matters a lot in terms of how the brain responds.”
The brain sends electrical signals throughout the body. For example, it tells the muscles when to contract. Similar electrical events occur in the skin. Dr. Vishton said that when we look at a photo of someone for whom we have romantic feelings, or that we find attractive, our body pushes more water than normal towards the skin and there is less electrical resistance.
“When you look at a photo of someone you love, your skin’s conductance level increases within a few seconds, quite consistently, actually,” he said. “About three seconds after an image appears, the conductance of the skin increases and continues to do so for several seconds thereafter.”
If we had the means, we could make Valentine’s Day a very different holiday by measuring electrical conductivity and the activation of the brain system of our loved ones. On the other hand, perhaps it is better if we do not.
Edited by Angela Shoemaker, The Great Courses Daily
This article contains material taught by Dr. Peter M. Vishton from his course Outsmart: Brain-Based Strategies to Improve Your Brain. Dr. Vishton is an associate professor of psychology at William & Mary. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences from Cornell University.
