While romantics may say the right person can leave an impression on you, scientists confirmed that love stamp actually lives on your brain.
According to researchers with the University of Colorado Boulder, there is a biological signature of desire that leads people to be attracted to one person over the other. This imprint also happens as a result of strong friendships, the scientists explain.
“This research suggests that certain people leave a unique chemical imprint on our brain that drives us to maintain these bonds over time,” says Dr. Zoe Donaldson in a media release.
That said, this imprint fades the less time you spend with that person, meaning distance doesn’t necessarily make the heart grow fonder — and that a broken heart can indeed mend, given time.
The study used prairie voles as subjects, as they’re among the 3 to 5 percent of mammals who are monogamous. Through brain imaging, the scientists noted activity in the animals’ brains — and their dopamine levels — spiked when their partners were close by and lit up “like a rave” when they were reunited.
This didn’t happen with a stranger.
“This suggests that not only is dopamine really important for motivating us to seek out our partner, but there’s actually more dopamine coursing through our reward center when we are with our partner than when we are with a stranger,” study first author and graduate student Anne Pierce says.
That said, when the voles were parted for a month, those surges faded.
“We think of this as sort of a reset within the brain that allows the animal to now go on and potentially form a new bond,” Donaldson concludes in the study, which was published in the journal Current Biology.