This is your brain on love

Neurotransmitters relay Cupid’s instructions

By Jonathan Comeau

As the great science fiction writer, Robert A. Heinlein, once said, “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

Well, good ole St. Valentine will soon be pressing his lips together and whispering in our ears that it’s time to show that special someone how you really feel – or at least buy a card and some flowers and be done with it.

When Jack meets Jill – or another Jack for that matter – sparks shoot off in all directions upon mutual attraction. Those sparks come in the form of adrenaline and other hormones causing your heart to race and flushing your cheeks and sex parts with blood to give you that wonderful feeling of butterflies in the stomach.

During the initial stages of love your thoughts can be completely dominated by the intriguing person that just happened to appear next to you at Sobeys holding a banana or sipping a sexy cocktail in your favourite George Street watering hole.

You may feel yourself slipping into madness as you attempt to purge your mind of the one that got away.

Don’t fret; these obsessive thoughts are caused by low levels of the chemical serotonin in the brain. Interestingly, low serotonin levels are also linked to the irrational thoughts of those afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder, so for Pete’s sake, call the girl or guy with the banana.

Dopamine is a chemical messenger released in the brain. One of its functions is to provide a feeling of pleasure that will reinforce certain behaviours like eating your favourite meal.

High levels of dopamine are observed in new-found lovers, increasing energy levels for those long walks on the beach and decreasing the need for food and sleep (leaving time for more important things).

Cocaine, like love, also results in high dopamine levels, but you’re much better off using love to get a fix: Love has no side effects – except the odd headache. [And the high can last several years!]

Unfortunately, the effects seen during the first few stupor-induced years on the love drug can’t last forever. If you’re jonesing for some butterflies you’d better start from the beginning with a new stranger.

If you can’t bear the thought of kicking your loved one to the curb for a hit of the good stuff then you’re in it for the long haul; attachment hormones have taken hold.

The hormone oxytocin, released during childbirth and orgasm, plays a major role in strengthening the bond that started to form throughout those long romantic dinners, fits of laughter, and all those new adventures with your Sweet Cheeks. Oxytocin helps rewire the brain to establish a more permanent form of love.

Research shows that sex with the same partner increases the chances of forming a longer-lasting bond, so beware of the booty call if you’re just looking for a good time; you might just find your valentine.

Remember the cautionary line from Woody Allen’s, Crimes And Misdemeanors, “My husband and I fell in love at first sight...maybe I should have taken a second look.”

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