LOVE and chemistry????

When people say “ You guys have such great chemistry” it is not just a play on words. There is a difference between romantic love and love, love is being extremely close with your partner to where you become selfless. But romantic love is where the science comes in play, where things don’t just happen for a reason. Unfortunately I have yet to be in love, but when I talk to my parents about they always describe it as a “feeling” that just makes them love so strong.
images-1images-2There are many factors that play a role in romantic love. Physical appearance is one of those factors alongside social status. In the aspect of chemistry there are four chemicals in your brain that play the largest roles in deciding compatibility: dopamine, estrogen, serotonin and testosterone. Dopamine is a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other nerve cells. The brain includes several distinct dopamine systems, one of which plays a major role in reward-motivated behavior. Estrogen and testosterone is what gives women and men a sexual appetite. Estrogen is sex hormone of childbearing women, it is responsible for female characteristics and sexual functioning. Testosterone is the principal sex hormone responsible for the development of reproductive function in male vertebrates. The hormone also promotes the development of sexual male characteristics during puberty such as voice deepening and the growth of armpit, chest and pubic hair. Serotonin is a type of chemical that helps give off signals from one section of the brain to another.

imagesStudies show that these chemicals are released when spending time with your loved one or sharing an intimate moment. There has been no experiments to determine that this is a fact but the “feeling” you get when your with the person you love isn’t just butterflies; it’s your brain becoming active. When you fall in love many chemicals are released such as oxytocin which has to deal with intimacy, sexual reproduction of men and women and childbirth before and after. Vasopressin is another chemical that is released after sex and is a hormone for long time commitment. There is science to love, you feel a certain way when you’re with someone because your brain is sending signals to the rest of your body. So there you have it! There is some science to love!

3 thoughts on “LOVE and chemistry????

  1. Jenny Eberhardt

    I really loved this post! I also love the Grey’s Anatomy pictures to depict love. Your post was very informative in regards to which chemicals comprise these feels that make up compatibility. Hearing that chemistry is essentially a real thing, always makes me wonder if love at first sight is also real and what chemicals would be deciding upon that. Personally, I think of it more as lust at first sight because I am not sure if I am a believer… https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-name-love/201311/is-love-first-sight-possible

  2. Jose Ignacio Arango De Diego

    Love can be so wonderful and yet so mysterious. We still have a lot more to discover scientifically about love and that is because it can be so hard to measure. I like how you provided such interesting and compelling information about the chemicals involved in a romantic loving relationship. And basically it all comes from the hypothalamus gland which is what delivers all those hormones. That’s why its considered more scientifically accurate to say I love you with all my hypothalamus than I love you with all my heart. Here is more information about this statement and how the hypothalamus works.
    http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com/i-love-bottom-hypothalamus-love-valentines-day/

  3. Kendra Hepler

    This was a very interesting and informative post! Seeing how much our body chemistry has to do with who we fall in love with, it makes me wonder how much control we really have over who we love. Do personalities and interactions have the most weight in who “choose”, or is it more up to the “fate” of chemistry? I guess it’s a good thing that science is helping us out with this, because with billions of people in the world, it would be pretty hard to choose if we were attracted to everyone!

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