{"id":4893,"date":"2021-04-01T17:41:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T14:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/?p=4893"},"modified":"2021-04-01T17:41:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T14:41:39","slug":"is-love-something-chemical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/is-love-something-chemical\/","title":{"rendered":"Is love something chemical?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love <\/b>is a constant theme in songs, books, poems, and art. During our <\/span>life<\/span><\/i>, we have all fallen in <\/span>love<\/b>. That indescribable feeling, the emotion we experience for being in<\/em> <\/span>love<\/span><\/i>. Our body seems uncontrollable, palpitations, sweat, butterflies in the stomach, loss of sleep, anxiety, sadness if we are not close to the person of interest, and euphoria when we are close.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Voltaire once said:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0”She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We associate these symptoms with love. But is brain chemistry to blame for all these strange symptoms we experience while in love? Let’s see.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Love at first sight?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is a phrase that we all know, seeing that person for the first time and feeling a flash of <\/span>magic<\/b>. We say it’s <\/span>love at first sight<\/span><\/i>, but it really won’t be love at first sight. In this initial phase of love, <\/span>pheromones<\/b> are responsible for being attracted to someone. <\/span>Estrogens <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>testosterone <\/span><\/i>are responsible for generating the initial <\/span>sexual desire<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fractions of a second where the <\/span>magic <\/b>happens. Then you may or may not move on to the next phase, <\/span>falling in love<\/span><\/i>. Also called <\/span>Romantic Love,<\/span><\/i> it is the phase in which you meet the other person and begin to establish the <\/span>relationship<\/span><\/i>. It is full of <\/span>chemicals <\/b>that create <\/span>addictive <\/span><\/i>sensations.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Cocktail of Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Many substances intervene in our <\/span>system <\/span><\/i>when we are <\/span>in love<\/b>. Some <\/span>neurotransmitters <\/span><\/i>trigger all these symptoms that we are familiar with. These <\/span>neurotransmitters <\/span><\/i>are serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. There are others, but we will focus on these.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Serotonin<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This <\/span>neurotransmitter <\/span><\/i>is associated with <\/span>happiness<\/b>. Regulates important body functions such as sexual appetite, body temperature, regulates the secretion of <\/span>melatonin <\/span><\/i>that is responsible for sleep. From there, we can explain the heat we feel when the other person is there, and the lack of sleep when they are not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Serotonin <\/span><\/i>is at its peak when we are <\/span>very happy<\/b>. It is the <\/span>neurotransmitter <\/span><\/i>responsible for well-being, when its levels are high we feel optimistic, in a good mood. Its low levels are associated with <\/span>depression <\/span><\/i>(heartbreak).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Dopamine<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dopamine <\/span><\/i>is related to <\/span>pleasure<\/b>. It is the <\/span>neurotransmitter <\/span><\/i>that makes us feel euphoric and full of energy. <\/span>Dopamine <\/span><\/i>plays an important role in <\/span>drug addiction<\/b>. Many of the feelings we experience when we are<\/span> in love<\/b> are <\/span>addictive<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Oxytocin<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Oxytocin <\/span><\/i>is the hormone of <\/span>love<\/b>. It only makes us see the <\/span>positive <\/b>in love. It is the source of romantic love<\/em>, that ideal love, where everything is <\/span>happiness<\/b>. <\/span>Oxytocin <\/span><\/i>disinhibits us, allows us to take risks, and throw ourselves into the <\/span>arms of love<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It acts like a drug in our system. The more <\/span>oxytocin <\/span><\/i>we release, the closer we feel to the other person. However, the amount of <\/span>oxytocin <\/span><\/i>released depends on the culture, tastes, prejudices, values, fantasies, and expectations that we have.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are other <\/span>chemicals <\/b>involved in falling <\/span>in love<\/b>. They all influence how we feel about the person of interest, and also when the person is away.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Does love end?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Infatuation activates many areas of the <\/span>brain <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>neurotransmitters <\/span><\/i>that drugs also activate. That is why falling <\/span>in love<\/b>, or what many know as <\/span>romantic love<\/span><\/i>, is considered by some to be a <\/span>drug<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But as time passes, <\/span>tolerance <\/b>comes. Tolerance occurs because the body gets used to the number of <\/span>neurotransmitters <\/span><\/i>due to falling <\/span>in love<\/b>, just as it happens with drugs. You are always looking for larger amounts to regain the <\/span>euphoria <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>energy <\/span><\/i>you felt at the beginning. As this does not happen in love<\/strong>, people begin to feel changes. Chemical changes, of course, can be interpreted as “I don’t feel the same anymore”, which can trigger a <\/span>breakup<\/b>. And then comes the heartbreak or depression; lower serotonin<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many will say that it is not necessary to explain what happens to us when we are<\/span> in love. <\/b>The<\/span> magic of love<\/span><\/i> is <\/span>universal<\/b>. We need love like we need <\/span>air<\/b>. <\/span>Love <\/b>gives us sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Love is the poetry of the senses.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Honor\u00e9 de Balzac<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/h6>\n

https:\/\/lamenteesmaravillosa.com\/la-quimica-del-amor-nos-enamoramos\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.zschimmer-schwarz.es\/noticias\/la-quimica-del-amor-no-eres-tu-son-mis-neurotransmisores\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=THyb-x0C350<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/lovequotes.symphonyoflove.net\/francois-marie-arouet-love-quotes-and-love-sayings.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/culturainquieta.com\/es\/inspiring\/item\/10241-el-amor-y-su-quimica-la-droga-mas-potente.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Love is a constant theme in songs, books, poems, and art. During our life, we have all fallen in love. That indescribable feeling, the emotion we experience for being in love. Our body seems uncontrollable, palpitations, sweat, butterflies in the stomach, loss of sleep, anxiety, sadness if we are not close to the person of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":4894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,20],"tags":[467,38,63],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-4893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-science","tag-general","tag-love","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4898,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893\/revisions\/4898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4893"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}