Does love affect our brain? Psychologists and scientists have spent many of their hours searching for an answer.

Love seems to be a subject that attracts the attention of many scientists. But what really happens when we look into the eyes of the person we truly love? Believe it or not, the brain is responsible for falling in love, not the heart like most of the cartoons tell us.

When we fall in love, the brain floods with hormones and chemicals that make us feel the way we do. Neuroscientists divide love into three main phases: lust, attraction and attachment. In the first phase we can see how the brain is filled with a neurotransmitter called Dopamine that creates the feeling of euphoria or extreme happiness. Also, hormones like adrenaline and noradrenalin are released which gives us the feeling that we have butterflies in our stomach. During the last phase of attachment we release a hormone called oxytocin, which many scientists believe, is the reason we get attached. Not only in partner relationships we release this hormone, when a women gives birth it is said that she releases a strong amount of oxytocin that may explain the attachment she has with her baby. In the second phase of attraction, even before we have a relationship, when we like someone scientists believe that a part of the brain activates called the opoid system. In an experiment they did they showed people attractive faces and waited to see which parts of the brain activated.

Many experiments have proven that love is in fact the sum of chemical and hormone reactions. Neurotransmitters such as Dopamine and Serotonin help us feel better when being with one person. Neuroscientists also explained that the first love and sexual act has a higher impact in our lives due to the amount of oxytocin and adrenalin released.

So next time you say to someone “I love you with all my heart” think better and maybe change it to “I love you with all my brain”

Bibliography.

LiveScience.com,. (2014). Beauty Works Like a Drug on the Brain. Retrieved 26 November 2014, from http://www.livescience.com/43257-beauty-works-like-a-drug-on-the-brain.html?cmpid=514645