The LA Times reports on the physiological consequences of falling in love.

Let’s put it this way: They’re good.

Arthur Aron, a social psychologist at Stony Brook University in New York, has done brain scans on people newly in love and found that after that first magical meeting or perfect first date, a complex system in the brain is activated that is essentially “the same thing that happens when a person takes cocaine.”

All that without the inconvenience of Mexican drug violence.

Activation of this part of the brain is primarily responsible for causing the sometimes bizarre behavior of new couples, which is linked to motivation and achieving goals: excessive energy, losing sleep, euphoric feelings and, occasionally, anxiety and obsession when they’re separated from their objetd’amour….

Plus: Happy partnerships (married or not) correlate to greater immune system function and longevity. So while love may not be quite all that you need, it’s certainly a fine start.