Do you think you’ve experienced love? It could have been the best friend who you realized you loved all along, or the pretty girl who lives on the floor below you. Maybe, if you’re feeling a little dramatic, it could have been love at first sight for you. The love you feel for your partner is a feeling like none else, and you know the chemistry you feel with each other is unexplainable. Love impacts you both emotionally and physically, and what causes this? Actual biochemicals!
It’s your first date with the dreamy guy you had just met, before he comes to pick you up you find your palms to be embarrassingly sweaty and your heart pounding through your chest. Well you can blame this on the release of norepinephrine, or PEA for short (Helmenstine). But, why did you chose the dreamy guy you met on the elevator? Your selection could have been due to dopamine. A study done on dopamine, a neurochemical, was conducted by Emory University using voles proved the female rodents selected their mate based on dopamine release (Helmenstine). For men who constantly find themselves in the friend zone, it could possibly be due to dopamine. Although we aren’t voles, therefore we aren’t sure if this affects humans or not.
Dopamine coincides with oxytocin. When dopamine is released so is oxytocin. This is hormone has been nicknamed the “cuddle hormone.” Not only is oxytocin a romantic love hormone, but is released during labor and breast feeding (Helmenstine). Oxytocin can be found in both genders, as well as testosterone. Testosterone is correlated with lust (Helmenstine).
These chemicals can be overpowering, but they eventually subside and endorphins begin to become more prominent. After the classic honeymoon stage has reached its end, and your body has built a tolerance to the love stimulants, endorphins are there to keep the relationship strong. Endorphins can be described as “feelings of attachment and comfort. Endorphins are like opiates. They calm anxiety, relieve pain and reduce stress” (Helmenstine).
Whether it’s from the first date, or ten years into the relationship biochemicals will continue to play a factor in your love life.
Works Cited
Helmenstine, Anne M. “What Chemicals Are Involved in Feeling in Love?” About Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.
This was a very interesting topic to read about. It is crazy how our bodies and different chemicals play a role into our love lives and who we, as humans, are attracted to. I found an interesting article titled “The Science of Love” that touches even more on this topic. It makes you think about how maybe not everything is just because of “fate,” like some people claim.
http://www.youramazingbrain.org/lovesex/sciencelove.htm