How does love impact the functioning of the brain?

Love is described as an emotion that is beyond ordinary, but have you ever wondered what happens inside our brains when we experience it? Recent studies have shed light on how romantic relationships, in particular, can significantly influence the functioning of our brains.

When it comes to processing emotions, our brains seem to sync more closely with our romantic partners than with close friends.A study published in NeuroImage found that romantic couples exhibit greater synchronisation in both behaviour and brain activity when watching emotional videos together. This synchronization is particularly noticeable in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region responsible for regulating emotions and cognitive processes.

The research involved 25 heterosexual couples and 25 pairs of close friends, all university students. While watching emotionally charged video clips, the participants’ brain activity was recorded using EEG hyperscanning, a technique that allows for the simultaneous recording of brain signals from two people. The study found that couples showed higher levels of both behavioural and neural synchronisation, especially in the alpha frequency band, which is associated with emotional regulation. This finding highlights the deep neural connection between romantic partners, distinguishing it from the bond shared with close friends.

The study also revealed that negative emotions like sadness and anger were more strongly synchronised between couples than positive emotions such as happiness. This aligns with previous research suggesting that negative emotions play an important role in maintaining emotional bonds within romantic relationships. The ability to understand and manage these emotions is vital for resolving conflicts and providing support during challenging times. This synchronization of negative emotions might be a mechanism that helps couples navigate the ups and downs of their relationship.


One of the most surprising findings of the study was the relationship between neural synchronisation and relationship quality. Contrary to expectations, couples with lower relationship quality showed higher levels of prefrontal synchronization. This led researchers to propose a "compensatory relationship," where couples may enhance prefrontal synchronisation to maintain emotional synchronisation when the relationship quality is lower. This finding suggests that the brain might compensate for relationship difficulties by working harder to stay emotionally connected, even when the relationship is under strain.


The study’s findings emphasize that romantic relationships are distinct from friendships at the neural level. Using machine learning techniques, the researchers were able to classify relationships based on neural synchronisation more accurately than with behavioural data alone. This suggests that love creates a unique neural signature that sets it apart from other types of relationships. The prefrontal cortex, in particular, plays a significant role in this distinction, acting as a physiological marker of romantic love.