![]() ![]() When researchers tested these people again one to two years later, their hormone levels were no longer different. Both men and women who had recently fallen in love also had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. They found that women who had recently fallen in love had higher testosterone levels than those who had not recently fallen in love, and men in love had lower testosterone than those who had not. Researchers in Italy who studied serotonin and love affairs compared hormone levels of people recently fallen in love and those who were single or in a long-lasting relationship. Dopamine plays a role in our ability to concentrate and control our thoughts, so elevated dopamine levels could explain lovers' tendency to focus exclusively on their beloved.īecause low serotonin in the brain is related to obsessive disorder, some scientists think low serotonin is a likely explanation for the way people in love obsess about their beloved.įalling in love has been linked to hormonal changes, too. Such bad feelings are often mixed up with good ones in passionate love affairs. The downside of high dopamine is anxiety, restlessness, and emotional volatility. Some scientists think it's no coincidence that these are also common effects of amphetamines and cocaine, which alter the mind mainly by raising dopamine levels. People in love also tend to notice less need for sleep, extra energy, and decreased appetite. ![]() High dopamine levels may be related to the "high" people experience early in a love affair. When the brain is flooded with dopamine, we feel various degrees of well-being, from contentment to euphoria. Studies show that the brain chemicals dopamine and serotonin may be related to the peculiar feelings and behavior of people in love.ĭopamine is a feel-good brain chemical. Researchers have looked for changes in the brain that may go along with the state of limerence. We fail to notice or refuse to acknowledge any faults in the other person, and no logical argument can change our positive view.Sometimes we feel an aching sensation or pain in the chest.We think about engaging in sexual activities with the other person.The relationship causes euphoria - an intense "high" or feeling of joy and well-being.We daydream and fantasize about the other person constantly.Our interest develops into an obsession: We can't stop thinking about the other person even if we try to concentrate on other things.We become interested in only that person and no one else. ![]() We feel a keen sense of longing for the other person's attention.If the other person seems interested in us, we become even more interested in that person.In the beginning, we become very interested in another person.In 1979, she published a book summing up her research, in which she coined a new scientific term for "in love." She called it "limerence." Based upon hundreds of interviews with people in love, she came up with a general description of the condition. (How has your relationship changed over time? Talk about it with others on WebMD's Health Café message board.) Madly in Loveīeginning in 1965, a psychologist named Dorothy Tennov began to study the state of being in love as something different from other ways that people love each other. Just what is it that makes two people fall in love, hard and fast? The other is to look at how chemicals in the brain mix to make us feel various emotions related to sex and love.īut first things first. One is to look for what many different people in different love relationships tend to have in common. Science offers two basic ways of understanding love affairs. We used to turn to poets for insight on the mysteries of love, but now we ask doctors and researchers. Yet many couples manage to move on from that stage to keep their love affair going. And when those feelings end, the relationship often ends, too. Those who have experienced it also know that the powerful rush doesn't last forever. ![]() Some people never get to experience it, but many of us do at least once in a lifetime. It's an altered state in which people think and act very differently than usual. Being in love is a powerful experience unlike anything else. ![]()
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