Scientists: True love can last a lifetime

[giza]

A nice little thing seen on CNN:

Using brain scans, researchers at Stony Brook University in New York have discovered a small number of couples respond with as much passion after 20 years together as most people only do during the early throes of romance, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.

The researchers scanned the brains of couples together for 20 years and compared them with results from new lovers, the Sunday Times said.

About 10 percent of the mature couples had the same chemical reactions when shown photographs of their loved ones as those just starting out.

Previous research has suggested that the first stages of romantic love fade within 15 months and after 10 years it has gone completely, the newspaper said.

The downside is that there's a 1 in 10 chance of finding someone that you will be truly happy with for the rest of your life. But I guess the upside is that finding someone you'll be happy with for the rest of your life really can happen.

I'm still at MagFest, and heading out shortly. I'll have pictures and a con report later.

Comments

I think you're misinterpreting that...

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

There is NOT a "1 in 10 chance" of being happy with someone over the long haul. You can be "truly happy" with someone for reasons other than brain chemistry.

Conversely, you could argue that mature couples showing the same brain chemistry as new couples are developmentally stuck in the infatuation stage. A relationship based around passion is exciting, but can also be quite unstable. It's been theorized that the initial pair-bond is formed by desire and chemistry, but cemented by effort and commitment.

It's possible the researchers are misinterpreting the results as well. Maybe replacing passion with dedication is what makes long-term relatioships work. People who stay in the "passion phase" forever might not be able to stay in long-term relationships, hence only 10% of LTRs are based on passion.

Re: I think you're misinterpreting that...

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I'd rather agree with this assessment. There's more to long-term happiness than romance, and while it's wonderful when people can still be in romantic love, sometimes a committed, gently-affectionate partnership is a proper ending to things.

My grandparents have been married about sixty years now, still together. I'm sure their love has changed over the many years, but I can;t doubt at all it's love when I see them. So. Mmm.

Still, I think this explains why so many cultures have either arranged marriages or long courtships, and science is just catching up: if you expect a love-based marriage, and have two years after bmeeting someone as courtship/engagement/betrothal/etc. then you're past the first stages and get to.. well, the next stage.

Re: I think you're misinterpreting that...

[simbab.livejournal.com]

I tend to look at anything off of a site like CNN regarding romance and relationships with a jaundiced eye, myself. Any medical research period from the media, really.

The mainstream media has no concept of repeatable, verifiable results, nor of sample size, or anything out of Stat 101. They see something in a medical journal they think will elicit the right reaction out of their audience, and they're all over it, regardless of the soundness of the science.

Edit: Wow, that article is crap even by mass media standards. All you really know is that there were about a dozen couples who underwent brain scans and this is what the researchers concluded. Nothing regarding the duration of the study, randomization (eg. where they got these people in the first place, what other things we don't know about they might have in common), or anything like that. I'm not sure what message the reporter is trying to get across—keep trying, there's someone out there for you, or the embittered-single thing ("there's only a 1 in 10 chance I'll ever be happy again!"), but either way, it's poorly done and if it has any basis in the science whatsoever, we have no way to know.

[sethb.livejournal.com]

No, it says there's a 1 in 10 chance the person you found will have that same chemical reaction. There might be a 95% chance you can find such a person.

Re: I think you're misinterpreting that...

[zeeth_kyrah]

"again"?

[swift-fox.livejournal.com]

*waves*

Hello! Living proof right here! :)

*snuggles his Silaria!*

[alsaihn.livejournal.com]

Likewise! *huggles her Turtyl*

[rassah.livejournal.com]

KuddlKat and I have been together for 9.5 years now, and we still gush all over each other as if we just started dating and have major crushes on each other. Regarding the %10, I don't think you have to have as much passion to stay together and happy long-term. Sometimes just having someone who is a best friend and a "partner-in-life" is just as good. (Of course, having someone who's willing to smother you in snuggles and kisses all the time is pretty nice as well >^.^< )