1. Love is different than passion or lust.

Physical attraction is an important part of love for most of us, but emotional love is different than lust. This is why one-night stands and alcohol-fueled hookups don’t tend to lead to long-term relationships. Studies that scan brains in real time show that we manifest lust in the motivation/reward areas of the brains, while love lights up the regions connected to caring and empathy.

2. Love is both a momentary feeling and a long-term state of mind.

There's something to the cliche of two hearts beating together as one: New research shows that we do experience love in the moment as a state of communion. In this moment of deep connection, people in love mirror each other’s facial expressions, gestures, and even physiological rhythms. But love can also be a lasting mental and emotional state in which we care deeply for each other's wellbeing, feel moved by each other's pain and motivated to help relieve each other's