The Science of Love and Romance

Via: BBC Science Focus Magazine

Have you ever wondered what in the world is going on when you feel that warm fuzzy feeling? Today we are going into the lab with love and romance to find out more about the science of love and romance to answer this very question!

Chemicals of Love

Via: The Collegian

The chemicals which drive our emotional reaction to feel or think about certain things that we experience are what cause us to experience the physical effects of love. These chemicals are what cause our hearts to beat rapidly, for our eyes to grow, our bodies to sweat, and our speech to stammer! All the delightful things about being in love.

So essentially these are what drive the science of love!

What does A Love Chemical Do?

Via love-chemistry

Lust-Powered Love

Testosterone: ‘T’ is the male sex hormone that drives the sexual attraction of males. It is also the prime chemical that helps define certain ‘male’ forms during puberty as helps with maintaining sexual intercourse.  It should be noted that both men and women have levels of ‘t’. 

Estrogen: This is the female sex hormone that drives sexual attraction in females. It is what enables women to have certain ‘female’ physical characteristics during puberty and aids with sex and childbearing. Both men and women have levels of ‘e’ but for the majority of the population, women have the most. 

Attraction-Powered Love 

Dopamine: This is the chemical that makes us feel great and rewards us by releasing warm chemicals into our brains. They make us feel relaxed, content, and safe around the person that might have triggered it. 

Norephedrine: This chemical often reduces our appetite when feeling the effects of love as one is often giddy, energetic, and euphoric. These heightened emotions can lead to a lack of appetite and insomnia in some people. 

Serotonin: This chemical affects our mood and how we feel when we are in love. When it is high, we feel great both physically and mentally, but when it is low it can cause us to feel sick and depressed. When feeling the power of love these levels are high and are good for your overall well-being!

Attachment-Powered Love

Oxytocin: Love triggers the release of oxytocin which helps form these emotional bonds with others. Often related to social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and the periods following childbirth. 

Vasopressin: This chemical triggers feelings of anxiety, fear, and aggression. Usually in small amounts, this aids in love through our desires to protect and care for the safety of those that we love. That we are always looking out for those we love and will do anything to ensure nothing ill comes to them. On the negative side of this, too much can lead to violence and toxic relationships without a balancing of the other key chemicals.

The Three Stages of Love

Via: harvard.edu

Studies have shown that there are three stages of love that are triggered by different chemicals released in the brain and body. This does not mean that this is the only way people love as some people only experience part of these events before they fall in love. 

What are these chemicals and stages?

Love of Lust: Of course, with love comes to lust for those in physical relationships and this triggers the chemicals testosterone and estrogen to create a physical reaction to skin-to-skin contact or other physical actions. Often when you first lay eyes on someone your experience lust and then it triggers the other types as you get to know them better.

• Love of attraction:  Love stimulates attraction at first glance if we are looking at it from a romantic point of view. When we fall in love our brain causes a rise in dopamine, norephedrine, and serotonin chemicals which each have their own special effects!

• Love of attachment: Then as the love deepens and you form an emotional attachment it triggers other chemicals including Oxytocin and Vasopressin. This is where you’ll form those lifelong bonds with a partner. 

What Happens to your Brain?

Via: quickanddirtytips.com

When people are madly in love it is found that the brain releases tonnes of dopamine which makes people feel pleasure and happiness. Essentially it is an activation of the brain’s reward system so that if something makes you feel good, you will want more and more of it! This is the first spark, which then leads to other chemical reactions in the brain which help develop the emotional attachment to a person. 

The brain commands the whole body and so when it tells you that you are in love it will order other parts of your body to express these feelings even if you are not aware of the physical effects. This physical response is likely a way nature evolved to make it easier for potential mates to see your attraction to them before even a word is spoken. 

What Happens to your Heart?

Via: Harvard Gazette

In biology, love is all about chemicals and so what happens to different parts of our body requires a lot of different biological explosions. When you fall in love your heart speeds up and pumps blood quicker around the body, triggering an adrenaline shot of happiness and making you feel magical! Some scientists say the heart is closely tied to the brain so any extreme emotion like love can cause it to work overtime, often depicted in cartoons as leaping out of our chest cavities trying to touch the object of our affections. 

What Happens to the Eyes?

Via: socialigence.net

What Other Effects of Love Occur?

Via: herway.net

There are soo many ways in which love and romance affects the body, mind and soul! It is not simply physical influences, but also love helps reduce stress over a long period of time. If you are hungry for some relief you can find yourself someone to love!

One of the downsides to feeling love is that you might find you don’t want to eat as much. Although this too could also be a benifit if you are trying to loose weight. So perhaps loving is a great way to get started in a diet!

Another thing would is great about love is that you have more confidence as you feel enriched by the experience of love for another person and if they too feel the same way it is as if nothing else matters in the world. Why worry about what others might think? Get out there and live your dreams as you only live once!

Final Remarks

Via: The Huffington Post

This is a very brief introduction to the science of love and romance. You can see that love has soo many benefits to our life regardless of whether it is for a romantic relationship or just love between friends or family. You offer a part of yourself when you make the commitment to love and you live a much richer life. Why be lonely? Get out there and spread love!