Psychologist Sandra Langeslag runs the Neurocognition of Emotion and Motivation Lab at the University of Missouri-St. Louis . The laboratory's research is dedicated to finding out how love works in the brain. On Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, she joined St. Louis on the Air to discuss the science behind those feelings of love (and heartbreak too).
Related: To an UMSL psychologist, love is just a state of mind
"People often say 'well, if we study love aren't we taking away the magic? Maybe we shouldn't study it.' I don't agree with that," Langeslag said. "It is an important topic to study. It happens to so many people and when people fall in love, it really affects them to a great extent. It has lots of positive effects and negative effects. I don't htink studying love takes away the magic. Think about depression. We study it a lot. And even if we fully understood depression, people would still feel depressed, but maybe we could help them feel better."
Listen as Langeslag discusses her lab's research and answers questions from listeners about the psychology and science of love:
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