top of page
Search

What is Love? A Neuroscientific Perspective/Why You Can’t Help Falling in Love

By Natalia Nedelcu


It’s Friday evening and you’re getting ready for your date tonight. You’re adding the  final touches to your outfit while anxiously waiting for your partner to let you know they are here to pick you up. You’ve only been dating for a few weeks now, but you can’t stop thinking about them. Every time you get a text from them, you feel your heart start pounding in your chest and butterflies dancing in your stomach. Every moment with them is so exciting, and you can't help but constantly daydream about them. Then, their name pops up on your phone’s screen,  accompanied by an “I’m here” text. Your heart skips a beat, and you ask yourself: Is this what falling in love feels like?

The answer is yes, that is definitely what falling in love feels like (at least for most of us). Your heart is racing, your palms are sweaty, and your cheeks are turning red just thinking about your crush. But have you ever wondered why that happens? Well, you can blame it on your hormones and brain!

Let’s dive in and take a look at the changes that happen to your body’s chemical messengers, also known as your hormones, when you are smitten. Scientists have found that people who have fallen in love within the past 6 months have significantly higher cortisol levels than those who are single or in long-term relationships. Given that cortisol is our bodies’ built-in alarm system and main stress hormone, these observed differences explain why people who have recently been struck by Cupid’s arrow seem to be anxiously obsessed with their crush. Moreover, it appears that some sex differences might also be involved in the process. Men who have recently fallen in love tend to have lower levels of FSH and testosterone than those who have not, whereas women exhibit higher levels of testosterone when newly enamored. These changes further explain the higher levels of arousal, manifested as both anxiety and excitement, as well as the differences in behavior and temperament seen in new couples. So the next time your friend who recently got in a relationship doesn’t answer your texts for days, know that it’s just their hormones and that things will get back to normal between the two of you in a few months.

Do you know how artists and poets often compare love to a drug? They are actually onto something! Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) have shown that people in love have increased activity in the brain’s reward and motivation system, suggesting that romantic love might be similar to addiction. These neurological circuits are regulated by dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation and craving, as well as energy and focus. The main cortical areas involved in this process, namely the ventral tegmental area, caudate nucleus, and nucleus accumbens, are also known to be associated with substance and non-substance addictions. Additionally, the limbic system, containing the brain regions responsible for our desire to live and reproduce, seems to play a part in falling in love as well. The hippocampus, the medial insula, and the anterior cingulate gyrus are the main areas involved in this process. How so, you may wonder. Well, these three regions not only regulate our reward system, but they also deactivate the prefrontal cortex, which is the logical part of our brain, making us less rational when in love. That being said, if you feel like you can’t even think straight when you are around your crush, and your words make no sense, you can blame it on your brain!

Despite how scary and nonsensical these changes may seem, love is a powerful tool! It has been shown that love acts as a buffer against stress and facilitates emotional regulation, thereby promoting well-being. New lovers appear to have more optimal vagal regulation than single people, as measured by Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in the context of watching two movies, one evoking positive emotions and the other negative ones.

That being said, falling in love is not as easy as it may appear at first glance. It involves changes in your brain and hormones, leading to increased anxiety, behavioral changes, and addiction-like neurological activity, but it is also associated with better emotional regulation. So, the next time you feel your heart racing around your crush and you wonder why nothing you do makes sense anymore, know that you are just falling in love.



References

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page