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Ever wonder what makes people fall in love with each other? And once in love, what makes people act the way they do?
Would it surprise you to find out it's all in the chemistry?
You've probably heard the term "lovesick." What might come as a surprise is how accurate a statement it actually is. Italian reseachers compared people with obsessive-compulsive disorder to people obsessed with their beloved, and guess what? There was a similiar drop in seratonin levels.
So sometimes, people really are crazy in love.
The star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet epitomize the idea of a head over heels kind of love. What's interesting is new research supports the theory that people in love are really in an altered state. No wonder they can't eat or sleep.
Lisa Diamond/Ph.D. University of Utah: "That addiction metaphor is very consistent with people's self-reported experiences that this obsessive thinking-- just can't get that person out of your mind-- it really does in the same way an addiction does."
With the aid of an MRI machine, researchers recently were able to pinpoint an area of the brain linked to love. Subjects were shown two photos, one neutral and the other of their loved one.
When the subjects looked at their loved one, the caudate nucleus lit up. This area is home to the neurotransmitter dopamine, which creates intense energy and exhilaration.
Lisa Diamond/Ph.D. University of Utah: "We know now that the brain regions that are activated when they see their beloved's face are brain regions that are associated with reward and motivation. They're the same brain regions that are activated when you take cocaine or another opiate."
Coco Warner/Eyewitness News: "Research shows that passionate love or that infatuation stage actually motivates people to make a more permanent bond."
Lisa Diamond/Ph.D. University of Utah: "Some have actually suggested that evolutionarily, that the function of that early stage might be to give you a motive to stay around the other person for that long term bond to develop."
Just long enough for this crazy species to continue.
And as far as who and why you are attracted to someone in the first place, that's a whole other ball of wax, so to speak. The National Geographic's cover story this month is called "Love-- The Chemical Reaction," and it goes into even more depth on this subject.
Coming up next week, we're going to talk about the cost of love... just time for Valentine's Day.
