With Valentine's Day coming up, it is timely to mention a recently published study that shows a neural basis for romantic love. Using MRI, Andreas Bartels and Semir Zeki at University College London found that individuals claiming to be 'truly, deeply and madly' in love exhibit unique patterns of brain activity while looking at photographs of their partners.

Not surprisingly, this generated considerable excitement in the international press. Several writers picked up on links between the brain activity and physical sensations associated with love: “... one of the newly discovered zones is closely linked to churning feelings in the stomach” ( Daily Telegraph 6 July 2000). There was also room for some well-worn romantic imagery, with at least three UK newspapers alluding to Cupid's arrow piercing the brain rather than the heart.

The Bartels and Zeki study also showed that being in love stimulates parts of the brain thought to be associated with addiction to drugs. This struck a chord with a reporter from the Toronto Globe and Mail (July 2000) who commented: “. . . if we apply the juridical rationale governing other things that produce similar effects . . . falling in love should be declared absolutely illegal unless it can be shown that, as a byproduct of euphoria, it also relieves pain in terminally ill patients.”

Although the findings are clearly of scientific interest, MRI seems a rather extreme approach to testing the devotion of a loved one, particularly if, as in this study, it is used in conjunction with techniques normally used for lie detection. As Bartels told the Daily Mail (6 July 2000): “It's probably easier just to ask.”