Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Why does love feel amazing and heartbreak like actual pain?

Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 bbc.in/3VyyriM

Here, we look at the brain scans of people in the early stages of relationships to explore where love shows up in the brain and why it plays such an important role in human survival.

Plus, we explain what happens in the brain when we get our heart broken and what neuroscience tells us about recovering.

00:00 Why does heartbreak hurt so much?
01:08 How scientists started studying love
01:55 What happens in the brain when we fall in love
02:41 Brain chemistry: Why love is a survival system
03:21 How love changes your sense of self
04:47 The neuroscience of social bonding: What do oxytocin and vasopressin do?
05:58 Why heartbreak hurts and what it looks like in the brain
06:35 Can a broken heart make you physically ill? The effects of loss
07:06 How to recover after a breakup

Check out more videos where we take you deeper into the subjects shaping the news 👉🏽 youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4fbmNPr-V3sl3lZ5NRNv72l

----------------
This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel.
If you like what we do, you can also find us here:
Instagram 👉🏽 instagram.com/bbcworldservice
Twitter 👉🏽 twitter.com/bbcworldservice
Facebook 👉🏽 facebook.com/bbcworldservice
BBC World Service website 👉🏽 bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio

Thanks for watching and subscribing!
#BBCWorldService #WorldService #heartbreak #love