Love can cut pain with a passion, say US scientists

Intense feelings of romantic love block physical pain in a similar way to morphine, a study has shown.

Scientists in the US tested the theory on 15 male and female university students who were in the passionate early stages of a love affair.

They were shown photos of their partners while a computer-controlled heat probe placed in the palms of their hands delivered mild doses of pain.

At the same time, the students had their brains scanned. Feelings of love, triggered by seeing a photo of their beloved, acted as a powerful analgesic.

The scans revealed that the effects of love could be compared with those of morphine and cocaine, both of which target the brain's "reward centres".

The researchers were studying the way the brain's reward structures work through brain chemicals that transmit signals and their links to addiction.