7 Scientific Ways That Falling in Love Affects the Body

There are plenty of unmistakable signs that you’ve fallen in love. Thinking about them gives you butterflies; you have an extra bounce in your step that others notice; you might even get anxious when your potential partner doesn’t respond to your text the instant you send it. But aside from all these obvious indicators that you’re in love, there are also lots of more subtle, science-based changes to your body that you might not even notice. Here are 7 ways your brain is telling you you’re in love. 

Falling in love eases the pain

Getting into a relationship can be tricky because there are really only two outcomes: either you end up getting married and (hopefully) live happily ever after or the heart-aching breakup eventually happens. But no matter what happens, the one guarantee is that it starts off painlessly…and we mean that literally. A study conducted at Stanford University found that falling in love releases chemicals that can actually reduce pain. In this particular instance, when the subjects in the study looked at photos of their significant other, it resulted in a reduction of moderate pain by around 40% versus 10% when they looked at photos of acquaintances.