Science Behind Love
When we fall in love our bodies begin to secret a series of chemical compounds in large quantities. These substances can cause us to have sensations similar to those produced by some drugs and obsessive compulsive disorders.
When the chemical process of falling in love is more advanced, phenylethylamine, a neurotransmitter, makes everything become more intensive. When combined with other compounds, phenylethylamine makes people feel incredibly happy, optimistic and motivated.
Although many ancient civilizations believed that the value of a person lay in the heart, today we know that the brain is the center of emotions and therefore of love. Since the brain is responsible for keeping the human body alive, performing complex functions, it is dynamic and is the center of everything that is done and is. In fact, Platon thought that the brain is the seat of all mental processes and that love is the motivation that leads people to know and contemplate beauty itself.
The pleasure and euphoria that people experience when being with the loved one, is due to the secretion of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that has a powerful reward system and creates a kind of "need" to be with that special person. Dopamine is the same neurotransmitter that is activated by gambling and the use of illegal and legal drugs such as tobacco.
Love begins with the nose, it is the scent of the other person that guides you to notice them, since human beings are attracted to people with immune systems different from their own.
Thanks to the neurotransmitter oxytocin, people are able to forge permanent bonds with their partner. Oxytocin is released with physical contact especially during orgasm. Therefore, when people hold hands, hug or kiss there is a discharge of oxytocin, making them feel closer to the couple.
During infatuation, the secretion of serotonin, a neurotransmitter, makes people feel happy when they are with their partner. The effect produced by this neurotransmitter is the same as that which occurs when a drug is consumed, the brain becomes accustomed to serotonin and seeks a higher dose, which is why there are those who tend to demand more and more samples of love and affection from their partner or seek a new love.
By Andrés Sandoval, Step 10 Blue
