Neuroimaging research shows that your brain is just as sensitive to love as it is to food. So love has a special place in our brains and is essential to our survival.
We live healthier and longer when we are surrounded by our loved ones.
Friends, loved ones or pets, they all matter.
These loving relationships protect your heart, your brain, and support your mental well-being. The term "love" is key and describes relationships where both parties are sensitive and responsive to each other's needs in a way that brings value to each person's life.
All kinds of love matter
During acts of love, our brain and body are intimately connected to our electrical brain waves, heart rate and breathing of our loved ones.
This is not especially true for romantic relationships. Love in child-parent, sibling, and close friend relationships can also reproduce these emotions.
Even pictures of pets can activate parts of your brain involved in emotions.
Loving relationships increase longevity: they protect your genes and brain and reduce the risk of premature death.
Thus, one of the greatest tools for our well-being is to surround ourselves with loving relationships.
