More than a feeling: The science of love
Valentine’s Day is nearly here. No matter where you are in the world, the day of love is normally celebrated in a variety of ways, from a box of chocolates and bouquet of roses to cheesy love songs and handwritten poems. But looking beyond all these grand romantic gestures, love begins in the brain. And that’s where it lives, too. Cupid’s arrows are filled with hormones.
This is your brain on love
As a groundbreaking study led by a Finnish research team showed, love is a complex process that involves hormones, chemicals, and signals generated and transmitted by neurons. Different types of love engage different brain networks. Dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin and oxytocin are the main chemicals involved in romantic love. Dopamine is the feel-good hormone released by the brain when a relationship starts. It’s the rush you get, the constant high, and feelings of euphoria and excitement. Adrenaline gets the heart pounding when you’re attracted to somebody. You get nervous, or forget how to talk naturally around this special person. Serotonin then comes along to control mood and emotions. It helps you keep thinking about your object of affection. Oxytocin, also known as the love hormone, is released in the final stage when we feel love and affection. It’s responsible for forming deeper emotional connections.
A chemical symphony
“Interestingly the structures of dopamine and adrenaline are very similar, only a few atoms of difference but a big difference in effect,” explained Alex Baker, a chemistry professor at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, in a press release. “Their chemistry is mimicked in medicines like amphetamine and salbutamol. The same reward centres in your brain are activated when you drink alcohol, so this is just different ways to reach the reward response.” He further elaborated: “These chemicals aren’t static though, as the rollercoaster of love moves through the first meeting, the heartache and into a long-term relationship, the presence of these chemicals changes in the brain. For example, your serotonin levels recover so you lose the anxiety and butterflies of love. How these chemicals fluctuate really impacts the emotions you feel – so I suppose is it love or just chemistry?” If it all boils down to chemistry, why not develop a love potion then? Well, “one of the biggest issues from a biological perspective is how to get the chemicals, like dopamine, to the right place at the right time. This is a problem that stretches beyond hypothetical love potions to drug delivery to the brain,” added Baker. “The other question to ask is why not just buy chocolate and flowers, instead of embarking on multimillion-pound love potion development? The phenethylamine in chocolate triggers dopamine release, while the flowers can trigger oxytocin release.” Not in love on the day of love? No worries, love doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic. Your brain’s reward system is triggered by actions of self-care and self-compassion, and not just by the existence of a romantic partner.
Keywords
love, romantic love, chemical, romantic, brain, hormone, dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, oxytocin, Valentine’s Day