While readers in the north east might not feel like it, today's a day for love, and no one likes to get into the mood more than major news outlets. A lot of times, this results in some rather silly, toss-off stories. But this year a number of publications and blogs are taking a serious look at the psychological and physiological questions behind the nebulous concept of love.- In this month's issue, Psychology Today offers a lengthy exploration of some of the theories behind Love's Loopy Logic. Focusing on questions of what drives men and women to seek and stay in love, this article draws heavily from social psychology and offers a sweeping view of some of the field's newest research.
- At CNN the area of interest is in how love effects our brains. What does it look like, and is it really all that different from sex? The short answer: yeah, it is.
- New technologies are allowing people to break-up with people in different ways, which one clinical psychologist tells the Washington Post, can be seen as a positive thing for the one being dumpted. On the other hand, these newer forms of communication often leave an information trail that can serve as a painful reminder.
- Vaughn, from one of our favorite blogs, Mind Hacks, has a neat post about the similarities between love and madness. Sprinkled with some interesting links, the post makes some intriguing, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, points about just how crazy being in love can be.
- And finally, from Yahoo! News comes a report that a chemical in male sweat can boost the mood, brain activity and sexual arousal of heterosexual women. All we can say is that sweating never sounded so sexy.
Whether you're planning on spending tonight cuddled up with a Valentine, or just a bowl of popcorn and the cast of Lost, know that researchers are working to get to the bottom of that crazy little thing called love. Though some will always prefer the wisdom of Shakespeare, Jane Austen or even Henry Miller when it comes to matters of the heart, pursuing the biological, physiological and psychological underpinnings to the emotions tied up with love could have boundless applications across any number of fields. Plus these scientific discoveries could even spur the next great novelist to tackle the timeless subject of love from a whole new angle.
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