WHAT SCIENCE HAS TO SAY ABOUT LOVE

Contemporary neuroscience research has revealed that when people affirm to sensing love a steady number of chemicals are present in the brain including testosterone, oestrogen, norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin. Specifically, both testosterone and oestrogen are present in the “lustful” stage of a relationship while norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine are frequently found during the “attraction” stage. Oxytocin and vasopressin are associated more closely with long term attachment, affection, and strong connections. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist and author of the book Why We Love – the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, characterizes four personality types and links each with a bodily chemical. In other words, testosterone and director, estrogen and negotiator, dopamine and explorer, and serotonin and builder. Also interesting is that a protein molecule identified as the “nerve growth factor,” or NGF, was discovered to have high levels when people first fall in love by Italian scientists at Pavia University in 2005. They found that these levels go back to normal levels after one year.