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Why Humans Are Obsessed With Love

How love impacts the brain.

Julie Householder

Jul 18, 2016

Flagler College

508

Why Humans Are Obsessed With Love

“Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet,
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet.”

This is the first stanza of the world’s oldest love poem "Love Song For Shu-Sin" which was written c.2000 BCE.

We talk about it. We are inspired by it. We fight for it. We celebrate it. This seemingly simple four letter word has occupied the hearts and minds of humans for thousands of years. So why are humans so noticeably enchanted by love?

Kesha wasn’t kidding in her song "Your Love is My Drug." Believe it or not, recent studies show that being in love affects the same parts of the brain that cocaine does. Being in love drives up dopamine levels in reward centers in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is crucial for our experiences of pain and pleasure. It is connected with desire, euphoria and addiction. Humans are literally addicted to love. So, if a relationship ends, then your body is essentially undergoing withdrawal symptoms.

The same study showed the participants who obsessively thought about their ex and "craved emotional union" involved the same parts of the brain associated with nicotine and cocaine cravings.

Love is literally mind boggling.

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