Love, from a scientific point of view, is simply brain chemistry. How so? To put it in a nutshell, it’s the chemistry of oxytocin and dopamine. Unromantically, science can almost explain everything — including romance, love, and happiness.
When you fall in love, your brain produces high levels of oxytocin and dopamine, or better known as the “happy hormones,” making you feel good and putting you in a positive mood. This echoed the findings by specialists at Loyola University Health System. Using MRI scans, the specialists found that when you’re in love, blood flow increases in the pleasure centre of the brain.
When you fall in love, your brain also produces vasopressin - a neurochemical that is associated with the sense of bonding and territoriality.
When you fall in love, you experiencehigher levels of adrenaline and norepinephrine hormones, causing you anxious and restless. You know how you get all nervous when your crush is around? The increased levels of adrenaline and norepinephrine are the reasons why your palms sweat, your heart flutter, and your mouth dry!
Love also lowers serotonin levels, making you more obsessed with your love interest, which explains why you can’t get that person out of your mind, especially at the beginning of a relationship.
Love can also ease your pain. A study by Stanford University found that people could withstand more pain when looking at a picture of their loved one, as opposed to looking at a picture of a platonic friend.
These are some of the things that happen in your body when you fall in love. Love, after all, is just a chemical reaction!
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