The Biochemistry of Love: Understanding the Science Behind Emotions

1. Love Scientistmel.com Twitter.com/scientistmel Patreon.com/scientistmel 4/27/2019 10 am

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6. NP • Love is essentially rooted in biochemistry of the brain…we feel lust from sex hormones then attraction through dopamine release and attachment through oxytocin and vasopressin. Our reward neural pathways give us a type of HIGH when we are in a new relationship. We even can be stupid while in love..as lust and attraction shut off our pre frontal cortex…the place for critical thinking.

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8. NP • When we fall in love, our reward centers in out brain fire off and we feel amazing. We become a bit addicted to the person who is with us. We can experience horrible pain when that person is no longer with us. We can go through a withdrawal much like an addiction. We can see where love manifests in the brain through brain scans of couples. • Functional MRI (fMRI) is a neuroimaging technique based on magnetic resonance imaging. It can identify brain areas that are activated by a task, process, or emotion. In an experiment published in 2005, Aron and colleagues scanned 17 volunteers who were intensely in love (Aron et al., 2005). To activate their brain’s “love circuit”, they showed them pictures of their beloved. As a control task, they also showed them pictures of familiar individuals. • Photos of people they romantically loved caused the participants’ brains to become active in regions rich with dopamine, the so-called “feel-good” neurotransmitter. The activated areas included:

9. NP • the ventral tegmental area (VTA), in the midbrain. The area is associated with pleasure, focused attention, and the motivation to pursue and acquire rewards. Its A10 cells produce dopamine. The two primary efferent fiber projections of the VTA are the mesocortical and the mesolimbic pathways, which correspond to the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, respectively. • the caudate nucleus and the putamen, two nuclei of the deep brain, which together form the striatum. • resting-state fMRI (Song et al., 2015). The technique can depict the brain’s connectivity, without the need to stimulate the subjects inside the scanner. Functional connectivity within the reward, motivation, and emotion regulation network (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, caudate nucleus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens) was significantly increased in the “in-love” group, when compared to a group of volunteers who were single at the time of scanning or who had recently ended a romantic relationship.

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12. NP • Love is such a strange thing. It can literally break your heart when a relationship ends. This is due to a high amount of stress hormones. The condition is called stress induced cardiomyopathy. It  is a condition in which intense emotional or physical stress can cause rapid and severe heart muscle weakness. symptoms of stress cardiomyopathy are often similar to those of a heart attack: • Chest pain • Shortness of breath • Sweating • Dizziness • Nausea and vomiting • Weakness • Palpitations (the sensation of the heart pounding)

13. NP • When we lose someone we love, we undergo withdrawal and stress hormones increase. We end up having feelings of anxiety. Our bodies and minds miss those highs we feel and the attachment with another. • But what about people who can not love…emotional deprivation disorder is a thing that exists. It was originally discovered by Dr. Anna Terruwe in the 1950’s. She originally called it frustration neurosis. The Baars institute focuses on this disorder. • a person could exhibit symptoms of an anxiety disorder or repressive disorder when these symptoms, in fact, were not the result of repression, but rather the result of a lack of unconditional love in early life. Emotional Deprivation Disorder is a syndrome (a grouping of symptoms) which results from a lack of authentic affirmation and emotional strengthening by another. A person may have been criticized, ignored, abandoned, neglected, abused, or emotionally rejected by primary caregivers early in life, resulting in the person’s arrested emotional development. Just like children, unaffirmed persons are incapable on their own of developing into emotionally mature adults until they receive authentic affirmation from another person. However, while unaffirmed persons cannot affirm themselves, there is much they can do to help themselves. Maturity is reached when there is a harmonious integration  between a person’s intellect, will and emotions and under the guidance of their reason and will. 

14. NP • Insufficiently Developed Emotional Life • Abnormal rapport • Incapable of establishing normal, mature interaction with others • Feels lonely and uncomfortable in social settings • Capable of a willed rapport but not an emotional connection in relationships • Egocentric • Childhood level of emotional development • Feels like a child or infant and expects others to focus their attention on them just as an adult would focus on a young child • Incapable of emotional surrender or giving to a spouse • Reactions around others • May be either fearful by nature or courageous and energetic • More fearful people tend to become discouraged or depressed • More courageous and energetic persons can become more aggressive or self-affirming

15. NP • Think Freddie Mercury had the best take on love…This Crazy Little thing called love… • This thing called love, I just can't handle itThis thing called love, I must get round to itI ain't readyCrazy little thing called love • This thing (this thing)Called love (called love)It cries (like a baby)In a cradle all nightIt swings (woo woo)It jives (woo woo)It shakes all over like a jelly fishI kinda like itCrazy little thing called love • There goes my babyShe knows how to rock 'n' rollShe drives me crazyShe gives me hot and cold feverThen she leaves me in a cool cool sweat • Crazy little thing called love • I gotta be cool, relax, get hipAnd get on my track'sTake a back seat (ah hum), hitch-hike (ah hum)And take a long ride on my motorbikeUntil I'm ready (ready Freddie)Crazy little thing called love • This thing called love, I just can't handle itThis thing called love, I must get round to itI ain't ready

16. SOURCES • https://baarsinstitute.com/emotional-deprivation-disorder/ • https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/heart_vascular_institute/conditions_treatments/conditions/stress_cardiomyopathy/symptoms_diagnosis.html • https://www.imagilys.com/imaging-brain-love/ • https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/12/health/your-body-on-love/index.html • https://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-love • https://neuro.hms.harvard.edu/harvard-mahoney-neuroscience-institute/brain-newsletter/and-brain-series/love-and-brain • https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/index.shtml • http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/love-actually-science-behind-lust-attraction-companionship/

18. NP • New patrons…Mark Sykes, Derp State, Rhetoric and Discourse, Brian • Talk about goals…and hopes for more patrons.

19. Love Scientistmel.com Twitter.com/scientistmel Patreon.com/scientistmel 4/27/2019 10 am