‘What is love?’ is one of the most asked questions among the youth. Though defining love is difficult because of it depending on a lot of factors around us let us look into the hormonal aspects of love.
What is love?
Speaking from a purely physiological standpoint, love is just a motivation system designed to build and maintain intimate relationships, focussing all of the energy towards a specific mating partner. It can be defined as an emergent property of a potent cocktail of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides.
A bit of stress can be considered to be an initiator of love. The physiological responses towards stress including release of hormones of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis can help develop and promote social bonding. Higher levels of cortisol (hormone released during stress) have been observed in people starting new relationships. Love involves the reward system of the brain. Reward system of the brain gets activated when we expect some reward in response to some work .Dopamine-producing neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) communicate with neurons in the nucleus accumbens in order to evaluate rewards and motivate us to obtain them. The different regions of the reward system communicate via a neurotransmitter dopamine.
Love comprises three emotions-lust, attraction and attachment.
Lust- Lust can be defined as sexual desire. The sex drive is regulated by the preoptic area of the hypothalamus which is responsible for the release of the gonadotropin releasing hormone. These hormones stimulate the production of FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone), collectively known as gonadotropins, which further stimulates the gonads to produce sex steroids. Higher levels of Androgens are primarily considered to be responsible for increased sexual desire among humans, though estrogen also contributes in it. This whole hormonal cascade works in tandem with or even helps catalyse a feeling of attraction, which is the second component of love.
Attraction- Humans may be attracted to many other fellow humans but as this choice emerges after analysing the resources, health, display of fertility and other biological and behavioural factors present in the opposite sex a specific emotion system is activated. A myriad of things are felt by humans in love like, jitters in the stomach, sleeplessness, focused attention towards their partner, nervousness and many others are just because the reward systems of the brain have got activated which increases the dopamine level in the blood. Many other neurotransmitters like norepinephrine are released which are responsible for heightened energy, intrusive thinking and focused attention. Dopamine is a catecholamine (hormones released during stress) which is increased during attraction and which results in hyperactivity, euphoria and sleeplessness. Dopamine can be considered as the primary agent of attraction. Norepinephrine is chemically derived from dopamine. Norepinephrine can stimulate the production of adrenaline leading to blood pressure increase when the person is near the individual he/she is attracted to. Norepinephrine is also associated with increased memory for new stimuli which means if a human is exposed to a new stimulus then it is remembered by the brain because of norepinephrine and if the same stimulus comes in future it would act accordingly. Thus the trait of recalling the moments spent with the loved ones during separation can be associated with the release of norepinephrine. During the early stages of relationships, serotonin is observed at low levels because serotonin is associated with the satiating aspects of sexual behaviour and loss of sexual appetite. The actual feeling an individual experiences during attraction is the product of evolution of the mammalian brain to enable individuals to get attracted towards a genetically superior partner.
Attachment- Attachment behaviour in humans comprises the feelings of closeness, security, peace, mild Euphoria, and reduced anxiety when in contact with a partner and separation anxiety when apart for a large period of time. The main hormones promoting male-female bond, or for that matter a mother infant bond are oxytocin and vasopressin. Vasopressin and oxytocin are produced in hypothalamus(a part of the brain). Oxytocin levels abruptly increase during sex and orgasm in females. Also oxytocin is considered to be the trust and cuddle hormone. This hormone slowly starts to build up when the trust between partners increases, when they touch and hug each other. Testosterone levels in a committed male is low which can help to increase oxytocin because oxytocin levels are negatively related to testosterone levels.
How do we fall in love-Falling in love at individual level depends on external factors such as their culture, kind of upbringing and their status. But having said that, there is science behind how we fall in love. Lust and attraction work in tandem. We might get attracted toward an individual just because of our increasing testosterone levels that is sexual desire is promoting attraction. Initially it is all about looks. The science behind ‘love at first sight’ is just the exposure to novelty and beauty resulting in an increase of dopamine levels that marks the start of attraction and gradually, as both of them spend time with each other, attachment. Seeing the desirable qualities in a potential mate, experiencing novelty increases the neurotransmitter levels and initiates attraction. Also, the women can sense the body odor of the man more efficiently and analyse it to know if the man is suitable for her. Actually, women are better in analysing the state of the immune system compared to a man by smelling the body odor. If the man has different and complementary characteristics of the immune system as of her she gets more attracted towards that man and thus body odor plays a major role in initiation of attraction. As the two individuals spend time together initially dopamine and norepinephrine levels increase and give the feelings associated with attraction. Dopamine also helps in the formation of oxytocin hormone. Gradually, trust builds up, dopamine directs the release of oxytocin hormone which is a bonding hormone and leads to strong attachment feeling. Basically, there is nothing like ‘love at first sight’. What we experience is just a mix of lust and attraction.
Importance of oxytocin — Oxytocin is known as a trust hormone or love hormone. Individuals having greater levels of oxytocin can deal more positively with the stress. Higher levels of oxytocin resulted in less cortisol which is a stress hormone in the human bodies. Also it has been found oxytocin helps in fast healing of the wounds. Thus the science behind the saying ‘love has healing powers’ is associated with the healing effects of hormone oxytocin which is high when an individual is in pure and committed love.
Maintaining a healthy relationship
- Role of sex- Oxytocin increases abruptly during sexual intercourse and orgasm. Oxytocin is considered to be a love hormone. Couples taking doses of oxytocin behaved positively during conflicts indicating having sex at regular intervals can reduce the effects of conflicts on relationship. Also, high levels of sex hormones again helps to reduce anxiety and promote cardiovascular health. Thus, sex (with your partner) at regular intervals can be considered good for a healthy relationship though not necessary and varies with individual to individual.
2. Touching and hugging- Touching and hugging increases the oxytocin levels and promote a healthy and happy relationship.
3. Keeping it happening- Creating interest in day to day activities by adopting new ways of showing love is a key for maintaining healthy relationships as exposure to novelty increases dopamine levels and helps to improve our mood. Professional help can also be used to find out new ways of showing love.
Ultimately, the key to maintain healthy relationship is
“Treat your partner as they want to be treated”
Science behind breakup and divorce-
After an initial 2–3 years of relationship, the body gets used to these lust and attraction stimulants and releases endorphins which results in calming of the mind, killing of pain and anxiety. Those who prefer the reviving effects of brain amphetamines like norepinephrine over pain killing effects of endorphins tend to get into other relationship with a new partner and cheat the previous one. Reduction of sexual intercourse and novelty decreases which results in decreasing oxytocin which can also serve as a reason for breakup. Though having children results in parental responsibilities which can induce production of bonding hormones thus, having children and becoming responsible for children helps to make the bond between the couple stronger and avoid conditions for divorce.
Conclusion-
Knowing about the chemistry happening during love can help us to reduce breakups, induce love and reduce the number of divorces. knowing about the chemistry during different stages of love can help us to alter that chemistry and get the desired effects. Oxytocin can be taken via nasal sprays to increase oxytocin and induce love. Also decreasing stress and fast wound healing can be achieved via oxytocin. Also knowing chemistry helps us to make a person practice love. Inducing the release of various hormones can help in inducing love. Love pills(used in harry potter movies) can be made to revive the broken relationships. Each Individual has a personality which tells which neurotransmitter is present in them in major amounts and can help us to understand their chemistry and accordingly the pills can be given. Also love is not required to sustain life but it is required to lead a healthy and happy life because the hormones released during romantic love helps to keep the individual healthy. In the end, understanding love is complex because it depends on a lot of factors like, individuals social status, nature of upbringing i.e. nurturing, circumstances of the individual and many more.
References-
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26197356/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303798258_The_neuroendocrinology_of_love
