Quick links from this year’s Valentine’s psychology stories:
Early social experiences can influence adult behavior in romantic relationships. More on the same from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Love activates the same brain areas as cocaine, reports the The New York Sun. It also activates the same brain areas as chess, but apparently that isn’t worthy of a mention.
Smells like man. A component of male sweat can boost arousal in heterosexual women.
Thinking Meat (excuse the innuendo) has a round up a several studies on love published in the APA’s monthly journal. My favourite is an article that looks at the psychology of how romantic love and sexual desire are related.
Sex and relationship psychologist Dr Petra Boyton suggests ways to celebrate.
Psychologist explains the neurochemistry behind romance. Really, this is all there is to this news story. No event, purely a press release.
The award for the most tenuously linked news story: neuroscience of tasting sweetness “fueled [sic] by some powerful biology”.
Relationship studies are popular with university researchers. Is this news?
Mind Hacks 