Anticipatory stress response in stress, relaxation, pleasure and love
Stefano GB, Stefano JM, Esch T. Anticipatory stress response: a significant commonality in stress, relaxation, pleasure and love responses. Med Sci Monit. 2008 Feb;14(2):RA17-21. Review. PMID: 18227772
Any time "love" shows up in PubMed, it’s worth a look. And this is an interesting article. A multidisciplinary team of researchers in the United States and Germany review the evolution of love in the context of human health.
Love, for example, when experiencing symptoms such as sweating, heart beat acceleration, increased bowel peristalsis and even diarrhea, can be quite a stressful experience…. However, love is certainly known, primarily, for its relation to feelings that we usually like to experience. This intense sensational and emotional state has inspired artists, and thus biologists have concluded that art, when it is associated with biological phenomena like love and reproduction, is part of an adaptational process ensuring survival. Hence, fine arts, love or lust, and the joy that is imbedded in the underlying concepts, seem to be not only individually rewarding but also behaviorally and biologically advantageous experiences, thereby protecting the species.
CAMWatch: Posts about free-access, peer-reviewed articles on aspects of complementary medicine theory, practice and policy. About the blogger.
technorati tags: complementary and alternative medicine integrative medicine placebo effect
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