‘I Wanna Know What Love Is’
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heir eyes catch yours and the room melts away. Your stomach flutters as a skittering rush of excitement surges through your body. Your heart drubs like an engine against your chest; your hairs prickling while your cheeks flush a deep scarlet. They turn their back and it’s lost in an instant. Your eyes re-focus. The noise around you draws back from a mumble. You’re back in the room. Love: simple biology or something more? Our human obsession with love permeates every society, with much of today’s pop culture and advertising geared towards its irresistible allure; yet we understand little about it. So, how much do we really know about love? Helen Fisher, Biological Anthropologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, suggests that there are three stages to falling in love. In one of the first papers tackling the biology of love, ‘Lust, Attraction and Attachment in Mammalian Reproduction’, she claims that each stage is driven by a distinct set of hormones and neurotransmitters, shaping and reshaping our romantic thoughts and desires.
Stage One: Lust Initial attraction is a complex phenomenon. Lust is driven by testosterone and oestrogen in most mammals and is vital for the survival of the species, pushing us to procreate and spread our genes to a new generation. According to Fisher, lust is separate from the more cognitive functions involved in an emotional attachment. Ever woken up with someone you shouldn’t have? You can blame your sex hormones rather than your brain for that one. In her paper, Fisher claims that environment plays a
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key role in our feelings of lust. The right temperature, light, and smells can all contribute to our desires. Perhaps this is why a festival romance can seem so absurd once you’re home in the cold light of day…
Stage Two: Attraction Once we’ve passed the initial surge of lust, our biology steps it up a notch. Attraction is the stage of love in which your brain gets involved, and you’re truly pinned by Cupid’s arrow. In this stage, the target of your affections plagues your thoughts, you lose your appetite and struggle to sleep. Fisher suggests attraction is caused by three neurotransmitters:
Adrenaline In the first blooms of love, your stress response activates, releasing adrenaline and cortisone into your bloodstream. This leads to discomfort when you are around your new love; your mouth dries, your heart races, and you may even start to sweat.
Dopamine
As your affection grows, it triggers dopamine release, which is connected to your brain’s desire and reward systems. Fisher describes this region as the “reptilian core of the brain” associated with wanting, motivation and cravings. Being with your love therefore causes an immense rush of pleasure, similar to that of cocaine Illustrations: Wendy Ling-Hsuan Wang or nicotine. “Couples often show the signs of surging
www.isciencemag.co.uk