For as long as romance has existed, love has been the basis of it all. It is a concept sought after by those with a motive to know how it feels, and it is a feeling that is tough to part away from for those who know it. Feeling this away towards someone comes with the side effects of dilated pupils, adrenaline rushes and rapid heartbeats, and feeling complete happiness. Surprisingly, the concept of "love", where one feels an immense attraction to another, has a chemical makeup that makes sense, and its side effects do, too.
According to BBC Science's "The Science of Love", love is not so complicated after all, and "In the attraction stage, a group of neuro-transmitters called 'monoamines' play an important role:
- Dopamine - Also activated by cocaine and nicotine.
- Norepinephrine - Otherwise known as adrenalin. Starts us sweating and gets the heart racing.
- Serotonin - One of love's most important chemicals and one that may actually send us temporarily insane."
Maybe it is just human nature for us to overthink the fact that the whole idea is a tougher journey than it should be in terms of maintaining attraction. We just have to be ourselves, enjoy their company, and let the chemicals do the rest. Click here to read "The Science of Love."
Dilated pupils are a common side effect of seeing someone a person loves. "Does love make your pupils dilate?" by Cristen Conger on HowStuffWorks explains this reaction by stating, "The mechanism of pupil constriction and dilation is regulated by the autonomic nervous system, which is also responsible for other uncontrollable reactions like goose bumps and heart rates. Inside the eyeball, the dilator and the sphincter muscles play the iris tissue like an accordion to the tune of light."
People describe the faces of others as more attractive when the pupils are dilated, so for those that experience this symptom, that's a plus! Click here to read "Does love make your pupils dilate?"
"When you catch sight of your beloved and your heart starts racing, that's because of an adrenaline rush, said Dr. Reginald Ho... The brain sends signals to the adrenal gland, which secretes hormones such as adrenaline, epinephrine and norepinephrine. They flow through the blood and cause the heart to beat faster and stronger, Ho said," said the article "What your heart and brain are doing when you're in love" by Elizabeth Landau on CNN.
The heart uses more oxygen when it begins to race, so maybe that's why people lose their breath when they first see someone they love. Click here to read "What your heart and brain are doing when you're in love."
Finally, a feeling of bliss is not foreign to those who fall victim to a love spell. According to "What Falling in Love Does to the Brain" by Linda Thrasybule on LiveScience, "'You can feel happy when you're in love, but you can also feel anxious,' said Aron's co-author, Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. 'The other person becomes a goal in life,' essentially, a prize.
Brown said that the reward part of the brain, also dubbed the pleasure center, is an essential part of the brain needed to survive."
It is kind of a given that anyone would be happy if he or she were in love, but it is interesting that this is a feeling that has been with humans for a long time. Click here to read "What Falling in Love Does to the Brain."
"Love is a drug," as they say, and it turns out that they are not wrong. Love itself is a combination of bodily reactions and reactants that stimulate responses merely addicting to the mind and soul. No wonder so many people look for love in their lives. It may be brought down from a dreamy emotion to a combination of chemicals, but in the end, no one would take this feeling for granted. After all, it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to feel free. Happy belated Valentine's Day!
