Love is an emotion that is all encompassing. Every person likes to be loved and cared for. Love can heal a person. Adults like being loved, children like being loved and even animals like being loved. Love is a universal phenomenon. It transcends barriers and brings people closer to each other.
Love comes in different forms. It can be purely physical, or pertaining to human sensations, caring, sharing, cajoling and being together. In whatever form it may be expressed, it is a strong bond that is difficult to be broken. When people break the bond of love they suffer trauma, depression and emotionally withdraw into a shell.
Love has been portrayed through fine arts for centuries. Plays, poetry and novels focus on the nuances of love. Relationships have been marred due to love, love intrigues have played havoc with peoples’ lives and so on so forth. Love is all pervasive. Let us focus more on this emotion, how it affects us in our daily life?
What is the chemistry of love all about?
Our bodies react to a hormone oxytocin. This hormone is made in hypothalamus, which is situated in the brain. Some of it gets released in the bloodstream, but much of its effect is considered to reside in the brain
Oxytocin makes one feel great when one is close to the family or loved one. It acts through the “dopamine reward system” say the scientists. Dopamine is a brain chemical which plays a very important role in how we look at pleasure. Many abusive drugs act upon this system. Problems with the system can cause depression and other mental illnesses.
Oxytocin does more than just making us feel good. It reduces the level of stress hormones of the body, reduces blood pressure, increase tolerance level towards pain, improves mood, and speeding up the process of healing wounds. It plays a significant role in relationships.
Conflicts and other problems between couples can affect the oxytocin levels. Physical contact also influences oxytocin levels. According to lab tests people who get lots of hugs and other affectionate contacts have higher levels of oxytocin. Positive relationships increase the oxytocin levels. Physical contact does affect oxytocin levels. This was observed by Kathleen C. Light of the North Caroline Chapel Hill who studied the interactions of married couples as well as of those living together.
This approach also applies to relationship between mothers and their infants. They both tend to produce higher oxytocin levels when they have warm physical contact.
Awareness about oxytocin
Much of the awareness about oxytocin has come from research done on animals, including monkeys. The care that a mother gives her offspring can affect the oxytocin mental and physical development and also heart functioning. The more love a child receives, the more healthy its growth. Even animals respond the same way. Based on animal research it has been observed that even social bonds are affected by oxytocin levels. Mice which have less oxytocin cannot recognize other mice even of they come across each other repeatedly. When injected with oxytocin, they can recognize other mice.
Research conducted by Dr.C. Sue Carter, co-director of the Brain Body Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago highlights oxytocin effects in prairie voles, which usually form strong bonds with their mates. When the researchers made attempts to bloc the oxytocin, then the voles did not make any such bonds. Oxytocin is important for female voles to have strong bonds with their mates. In males, the hormone vasopressin also plays a role. Animals, of course, need to have proper genes in order to respond to such hormones.
Thus love is very essential for people to stay together. Chemicals in the brain play an important role in generating such feelings. Everybody likes to be loved.
