The Science Behind Falling In Love

Of all human emotions, nothing is sweeter and nothing feels better, than the great phenomenon called “Falling in Love.” At this moment, let’s tackle the science behind it.

Let’s start from a chemical perspective. Scientists say that there are 3 neural transmitters included in falling in love” Dopamine, Adrenaline, and Serotonin.

Dopamine – is what makes us feel so good, such a level of elation is very much likened to taking the illegal substance called Cocaine. Couples who are in love often show high levels of energy, suppressed hunger, higher ability in focusing, and lower needs for sleep.

Adrenaline – When you first start to fall in love with a person, your stress response starts to activate, increasing the cortisol and adrenaline level of your blood. This explains why have sweaty palms and palpitations when you that person you fell in love with.

Serotonin – The levels of this chemical are known to drop when a person falls in love. Such a drop can be very similar to those who have obsessive-compulsive disorders. This would explain any nervousness or anxiousness. Such chemical talks would surely make us curious about the word pheromones.

Pheromones are chemicals that humans and animals produce that can affect the surrounding similar species. They secreted in the skin along with sweat and tears. Pheromone attraction can actually help people find their ideal mate or ultimate love partner.

In a certain study, women were asked to smell the scent of shirts worn by different men. In most cases, the women rated the shirts higher when those shirts were of a DNA very different from their own. This can really give us a newer definition of the word attraction.

Speaking of attraction, how does it all work? All of your senses play a big part in being attracted to someone. We all know that pheromones help us get in attracting someone with a sense of smell. Our sense of sight is also a big one. When we see someone with good hair, and with fair skin, our instinct would tell us to be visually attracted to that person.

That would be so because we are seeing that the person is very fit for reproduction, or in some cases, just the first part of it. Our ears also contribute to this attraction party. Whenever we see the person’s voice, or the way he or she speaks can greatly make us drawn into the person even more.

Importance of Physical Intimacy

The sense of touch can also be a very crucial part of anyone’s relationship dealings. It can really make or break the beginning stages. Many people become uninterested in someone after a bad first kiss. Are they making a great deal out of it more than necessary? Not always.

Getting that close to a person, your sense of smell, taste, or touch, are all working together. When your body reacts to a first kiss, your body is flooded with Norepinephrine, which makes your body goes into fight or flight mode, your heart will beat faster and your vision will create some kind of “tunnel vision” to help you focus more on the attractive person in front of you, or maybe run away.

Norepinephrine can warp your sense of time but can also enhance your memory. This explains why we remember so much about the details of the person, which is the object of our affection.

Receiving love has a significant impact on our lives in general. A study conducted in 2010 from the Duke University Medical School, declared that the love you got early on in your life can positively affect you later on.

By closely studying 500 people since they were infants until when they’re in their 30’s, researchers saw that when babies have very affectionate parents, they will more likely to grow up happier, more resilient, and less anxious.

On the reverse side of things, a review in Scientific American claims that children who starved from individual affection show high levels of cortisol than those who were cared for intensively by their parents. A lot of these were attributed to a lack of physical contact. Physical affection is really important for humans.

It doesn’t need to be extremely intimate or anything. Even just a good, warm hug from time to time can go a really long way, and can really spell the difference between a lonely kid, and a tantrum-filled toddler. In fact, hugging can be really a communicative kind of physical engagement.

According to Healthline, a person needs at least 4 hugs a day to get the right dosage of your much needed physical affection. If you can do that in double, then that should make your family and social circle feel a lot happier. The solid fact within the idea is that the more hugs, the better.

Let’s talk about more advantages of being hugged regularly. In study conducted in 2014, it was found out that receiving hugs can help you boost your immune system, lowering chances of being prone to infectious diseases.

Another study in 2018 found that the more a person receives hugs, they were less affected by interpersonal conflicts. What’s really interesting about it is that the hugs were not dependent on the gender of the hugger, or if the hug has a familial or erotic motive or context.

While hugging can have a variety of reasons of motivations behind the act, kissing, which is a much deeper form of love engagement can provide an even longer list of benefits. It can’t only help you boost your immune system as well, but can also relieve stress, and may even give women some relief from menstrual cramps.

Conclusion

By putting this all together, we can somehow arrive at the understaning that receiving no love, especially at the physical level can have severe negative effects on your life.

Are you someone who thinks you don’t need love? Or are you someone who’s afraid to be into it?

If you are, you should change that point of view. Being in love is the greatest event any human can ever experience… embrace it… along with the priceless benefits it can surely offer.