Neuroscience behind Why People Fall In Love?
Science Reveals what Makes People Fall in Love
What makes people fall in love with one person and not
another?
Philosophers, social scientists and poets have tried to
answer that question since time immemorial.
The answer may have a lot to do with brain chemistry, said
Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University, on Sept. 28 at
the Being Human conference, a day-long event focused on the science and mystery
of the human experience.
Several brain chemicals, including dopamine and
testosterone, play a role in a person's drive toward romance, sex and other
rewards, Fisher said. The specific balance of these chemicals in people's
brains could shape their personalities and, in turn, the types of people they
are drawn to, Fisher said. Sometimes, that means birds of a feather flock
together, whereas for others, opposites attract.
Love
addiction
In past research, Fisher found that the brains of the madly
in love look markedly different from the brains of those who are not in love.
"Romantic love is akin to an addiction," Fisher
said.
For instance, two areas of the brain the ventral tegmental
area, a "dopamine factory" associated with craving and obsession, and
the nucleus accumbens, which is strongly associated with addiction are
overactive in those who are love struck, she said.
Soul
mates?
In general, people fall for people like themselves: those
from the same cultural, religious or socioeconomic background, and level of
intelligence or attractiveness. But throughout life, a person may run into
hundreds of others who fit that description. So what causes a person to swoon
over one person and not another?
To find out, Fisher went through the scientific literature
to pinpoint brain chemicals associated with physiological traits, such as high
levels of dopamine or testosterone. In a series of studies from 2009 to 2012,
she found just four neurochemical systems those for dopamine, serotonin,
testosterone and estrogen/oxytocin were reliably tied to personality traits.
She then formulated and tested a personality assessment to
determine which physiological system is dominant in a given person. Finally,
she gave 28,000 people on a dating website this assessment, and then watched to
see who they chose.
Brain
types
People with different personality types seemed to be drawn
to each other. People with active dopamine systems tended to be reward-driven
and impulsive, seeking out novelty and experience and getting bored easily.
Those with an active dopamine system tended to be curious, energetic and
mentally flexible, but not particularly introspective.
"They like their own type," Fisher said of this
dopamine group.
Serotonin, meanwhile, was linked with personality types that
are less anxious, more sociable and more risk averse. Serotonin-dominant people
tended to be conscientious and religious, follow the rules, and prize order and
habit. These habit-driven people also flocked to partners just like themselves.
But two groups of participants were drawn to their
opposites. Those with testosterone-dominant personalities who tended to be
highly analytical, competitive and emotionally contained were often attracted
to people with personalities associated with high estrogen and oxytocin levels,
who tended to be "empathetic, nurturing, trusting and prosocial, and
introspective, seeking meaning and identity," Fisher said. The desire went
both ways, with the estrogen/oxytocin group being drawn frequently to the
testosterone group.
(Though testosterone and estrogen are often considered the
male and female hormones, both hormones are present in both sexes.)
But though personality may drive initial love and
attraction, Fisher has found that keeping that loving feeling requires one
specific skill: maintaining positive illusions about a loved one, or "the
simple ability to overlook everything you cannot stand in someone," she
said.
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