This episode is brought to you by LifeLock.
Not everyone is careful with your personal information, which might explain why there's a victim of identity theft every five seconds in the U .S. Fortunately, there's LifeLock.
LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity.
If your identity is stolen, a U .S.-based restoration specialist will fix it — guaranteed — or your money back.
Save up to 40 percent your first year by visiting LifeLock .com slash podcast. Terms apply.
P .M .S. Pregnancy. Menopause.
Being a woman is a lot.
Ollie supports you and yours with expert solutions for every age and life stage.
They just launched two new products, exclusively at Walmart.
Period Hero combats flow, mood swings and more during p .m .s.
And Balance PeriMenno to support hormonal balance, mood and metabolism during perimenopause.
Grab yours at Ollie .com.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
How long does love last according to science?
Thanks for asking. We've talked about love and relationships in a number of previous episodes of Do You Really Know?
You may remember we've discussed the secrets to a long -lasting relationship and the triangular theory of love for example.
But despite lovey -dovey representations of romance in films, a lot of people say that love doesn't last forever.
Some people say it's limited to 3 years max, for example.
So what does science have to say on the matter then?
Why wouldn't love be the same 3 months and 3 years into a relationship then?
Love isn't a static emotion, but a dynamic process that changes over time.
According to science, there are different phases and types of love that we experience in a relationship.
The first phase is often called romantic love or infatuation, which is characterised by intense attraction, passion, obsession and euphoria.
It's the phase when you feel butterflies in your stomach, can't stop thinking about your partner and want to spend every moment with them.
And it's driven by brain chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine, which make us feel happy and excited.
However this phase usually lasts for only 2 to 3 years at most. That's according to Dr Fred Knorr, a neurologist and author of the book True Love How to use science to understand love.
As quoted by today .com, Knorr says that after this phase our brain chemicals change and romantic love fades.
Does genetics have any role to play?
Some researchers have suggested that there is a genetic basis for love and that we're attracted to people who have compatible genes with us.
For example, one study found that people tend to prefer partners who have different immune system genes to them, which may increase the chances of having healthy offspring.
Another study found that people who have a certain variant of the gene DRD4, which affects dopamine receptors in the brain, are more likely to be adventurous, impulsive and therefore prone to infidelity.
These genetic factors may influence how long we stay in love with someone or how easily we fall out of love.
Is it even possible for love to last forever, then?
There's no simple answer to that question.
While romantic love may not last forever, it can transition to a more mature and stable form of love, which is often called companionate love or attachment.
This type of love is based on trust, commitment friendship and intimacy.
It's associated with the hormone oxytocin which is released during cuddling kissing and sex. Oxytocin helps bond couples together and creates a sense of security and comfort.
This type of love can last for decades or even a lifetime if the couple works on maintaining it.
Of course it doesn't mean that the couple will never experience any problems or conflicts it just means that they have learned to cope with them and overcome them together.
There you have it. Now you know how long love lasts according to science.
In under three minutes we answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines.
Listen along and you will really know for sure.
