Notes on Love

New York Times

Brain scan studies have shown that early romantic love generates a unique pattern of brain activity. Regions of the brain related to addiction and even mental illness light up on the scan when a person sees a photo of his or her beloved.....
There are reasons to think that culture and country influence how we love — or at least how we express it. For instance, in surveys, people from China typically describe romantic love “in much less positive terms,” notes Art Aron, a professor of psychology at Stony Brook who has conducted several love and brain scan studies.....

...more from Love on the Global Brain NYT

Romantic love can be more than heartbreaking, as Yeardley Love, 22, a lacrosse player who was slain three weeks ago by an ex-boyfriend, shows...and this is but one of dozens of recent examples of the risky side of romantic love. This is not to say that an arranged marriage, and/or using logic to guide our selection in a mate,  is the answer, but it does seem safer than the romantic route.