Physiology Of Love,The Heart, And Brain
Written And Edited By Marvellous Lisa Adaugo Peters,
mavlisadc6@gmail.com
100 Level Human Physiology,
Physiology, widely known as the function of the human body, down to the cellular level of life, will be used as a concept to explain love, as well as its connection and impact on the brain and the heart. In other words, we will study the function of love, and its relationship and effect on the heart and brain.
According to Elevate, "Love is undeniably a nutritional need for all humans". Our
mental and emotional health greatly depends on the nurturance from healthy relationships springing from Love. But, why is this a great need to all humans? This answer lies within the organisation of the human body. Let's take a look.Love, commonly known as the deep and intense feeling of attraction for someone, is "a wide range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from sublime virtue, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest of pleasure"(Wikipedia,2019). As we go further, we will be able to trace the heart-brain relationship to love, and its effect on human nature.
Love, The Heart
Love has always inspired not only as a literary and artistic concept but as an important fundamental human need. As a symbol embodying the ideal of ‘good’ and better living, it occupied a very important place in people’s hearts from the very beginning of the development of human civilizations. Such a strong emotion it feels that it is strongly connected with the most vital organ, the human heart.
Its association with the human heart seems to have sprung from the overpowering feelings it generates when it blooms, withers, or is broken. ‘The heart is deep with love and heavy with loss.’ When one’s feelings get hurt, the heart ‘breaks,’ or flutters of excitement when one feels happy. Its instrumental role in people’s lives goes a long way back. Among ancient civilizations, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, but also in later years until recently, the heart has always had a connection with emotions; In lyric poetry and philosophy, the heart is identified with love and emotion. How can one overlook Sappho’s passionate “mad heart” when it is shaking with love?
And The Brain…
In 2005, Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist led a research team that published a groundbreaking study that involved the ground breaking MRI images of the brains of individuals in the throes of romantic love. Her team analysed 2,500 brain scans of college students who viewed pictures of someone special to them and compared scans to ones taken when the students looked at pictures of acquaintances. Photos of people they loved romantically caused the participants' brains to become active in regions rich with dopamine, the so-called feel good neurotransmitter. Two of the brain regions showed activity in the MRI scans and they are, the caudate nucleus, a paired, "c" shaped subcortical structure which lies deep inside the brain near the thalamus. This causes the execution of movement, memory, reward, motivation, emotion, and romantic interactions. And the ventral tegmental area, which is associated with pleasure and focused attention.
When we fall in love, chemicals associated with the reward circuit flood our brains, producing a variety of physical and emotional responses, such as racing hearts, sweaty palms, and feelings of passion and anxiety. Levels of stress hormone cortisol also increase during the initial phases of romantic love, prepping our bodies to cope with the 'crises' at hand. As cortisol levels rise, levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter depletes, causing intrusive, maddeningly preoccupying thoughts, hopes and terrors of early love. This is one of the reasons you can't concentrate when you're in love!
Being in love also releases high levels of dopamine, a chemical that makes love a pleasurable experience similar to the euphoria associated with the use of cocaine or alcohol.
Other chemicals at work during romantic love are oxytocin and vasopressin, hormones that have roles in pregnancy, nursing, and mother-infant attachment. Released during sex and heightened by skin-to-skin contact, oxytocin deepens feelings of attachment and makes couples feel closer to one another after having sex. Oxytocin, known also as the love hormone, provokes feelings of contentment, calmness, and security, which are often associated with mate bonding. Vasopressin is linked to behaviour that produces long-term, monogamous relationships. The differences in behaviour associated with the actions of the two hormones may explain why passionate love fades as attachment grows.
In addition to the positive feelings romance brings, love also deactivates the neural pathway responsible for negative emotions, such as fear and social judgement. These positive and negative feelings involve two neurological pathways. The one linked with positive emotions connects the prefrontal cortex to the nucleus , while the other, which is linked with negative emotions, connects the nucleus accumbens to the amygdala. When we are engaged in romantic love, the neural machinery responsible for making critical assessments of other people, including assessments of those with whom we are romantically involved, shuts down. “That’s the neural basis for the ancient wisdom ‘love is blind’,” said Schwartz.
Generally, it has been stated that we feel love in our hearts, and think with our brains. But it has been scientifically proven that love is produced in our brains. Love has been a vital reason we do most things in our life. It also affects our perspective of life and increases emotional stability. Love is a universal need because it gives our lives a meaning.
References
Love and the brain- Harvard Institute Of Neuroscience.
Love, all we need- Teen Ink.com
Physiology of love, and the brain- Elevate.com
Love and the heart- 3d organon.com
Love- Wikipedia
This article is at least two years old. I remembered doing a lot of research as a young physiology student, willing to impress my mates and my departmental publication at the time.
It is a short, concise and factual article, that shares the real reason why you fall in love. The excitement and thrill you get with that special person is because of the release of chemicals in your brain. Of course you feel a thump in your heart, you feel with your soul, you hug and receive warmth with your body.
All that could happen because your brain released oxytocin and dopamine.
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