Falling in love can feel intoxicating. It can quickly start to feel like you can’t go a day without seeing your love interest. Your brain begins to have a hard time remembering what life was like before they entered your life. Scientists have now identified why this intense connection happens by locating where love lives in the brain.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of 17 people in the early stages of love. What they found changed the way scientists understand love.

Dr. Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist and clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told the BBC that because blood contains iron, researchers can see in brain scans which areas of the brain receive more blood flow when people are shown images of someone they’re in love with.

Locating where love lives

The study consisted of 10 women and 7 men who reported being “in love” with their partners for 1 to 17 months. When participants were shown pictures of their partners, a surprising part of their brains lit up.

“The most important thing that we found in everyone without exception was activity in this part of the........

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