The Body’s Reaction to Love

By Vaidehi Zala

Saltman QuarterlyStudent
··8 min read

Love, that dangerous game of tug-of-war between emotions and certainty, orchestrates an intricate series of physiological and psychological processes that lead to common physical responses. When hit by Cupid’s arrow, customary feelings to experience are clammy hands, a nervous stutter, and butterflies. Though they are ubiquitous, these side effects aren’t fully understood from a biological standpoint.

Usually, when one thinks of love, the image of a heart may pop up. Since the heart beats zealously when seeing a crush, people have been putting the heart and love together for years. Though the symptom of a fast heartbeat comes from the heart, it isn’t directed by this organ. Instead, the brain is the complete mastermind behind every symptom felt as it tells the rest of the body how to react. According to Harvard Medical School’s article on The Love and The Brain, these chemicals and neurotransmitters produce “a variety of physical and emotional responses – racing hearts, sweaty palms, flushed cheeks, feelings of passion and anxiety.” Though love-struck, the heart can’t do what it wants until the brain tells it to. The popular phrase, “Follow your heart and not your mind,” can be followed theoretically but not in practice. Therefore, the neurological pathways are the main leaders in allowing common bodily responses to occur.

Chemical Secretions and Their Impact on Love

The dreamy sensations of love are created through certain neurotransmitters. These chemicals allow neurons from the brain to communicate with the rest of the body, facilitating the conversion of love to symptoms. Oxytocin and vasopressin are responsible for the attachment one may feel when their heart beats for another. Oxytocin is considered the “cuddle hormone” as it’s associated with sexual arousal and trust. Both neurotransmitters are crucial to first understanding the development of this warmth for someone else. For the romantic attraction itself, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are the main characters. Dopamine releases feelings of pleasure and satisfaction, motivating the individual to continue seeking their lover. With high levels of dopamine, the “reward system” is activated, making love pleasurable. Norepinephrine supports this process. The two neurotransmitters, along with the adrenaline that is pumped together, induce a euphoric sense of happiness and purpose. The coexistence of dozens of hormones and pathways allows the body to feel love to its fullest extent. Therefore, it is crucial to appreciate the role of the brain in this journey of love.

Stephanie Cacioppo addresses the idea of love being essential in her text, Wired for Love. The neuroscientist quotes, “Love is a biological necessity – it’s as needed for our well-being as exercise, water, and food.” As being passionately in love can further activate the brain, this statement is highly accepted by the scientific community. When love is still in the honeymoon phase, emotions are exceptionally intense because the “primitive part of the brain’s reward system, which is located in the midbrain, is activated.” Within a certain region of the midbrain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA), dopamine neurons are released, and as previously explained, these neurotransmitters are responsible for the feelings of reward and incentive salience.

Additionally, an article by the American Psychological Association further addresses this subject. In the research conducted by neuroscientist Lucy Brown, Ph.D., a neuroscientist, she and her lab partners utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study early-stage romance. fMRI is a technique that takes advantage of the triggered neurons to map the change in blood flow. By indirectly measuring the movement of blood flow and electrical activity, fMRI can effectively assess brain activity. The study was conducted on 10 women and 7 men who claimed to be in fierce love. They were presented with a 14-question questionnaire “designed to assess the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of passionate love.” The people with the highest scores were considered to be truly wildly in love whilst the people with lower scores were beginning to lose their powerful emotions for their partner. This helped the individuals understand their own emotions as well as the reason why they believed to be deeply in love in the beginning. This questionnaire proved to be quite reflective for the participants. The next section was more focused on the brain and its activation. Each participant in Brown’s study was shown a photograph of their significant other, and the brain activation in the VTA was examined with the help of fMRI. As the reward circuit was impacted, the blood flow to the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex was increased. The reason why love can activate this section of the brain is because the VTA is connected to ensuring basic needs such as eating and sleeping are fulfilled. The fact that love can drive the VTA showcases that love is a biological necessity, agreeing with the words of Dr. Stephanie Cacioppo.

Now, the deep affections can also lead to other less-discussed emotions. During this initial phase of love, serotonin levels drop, resulting in higher anxiety levels. This leads to the obsessiveness you may experience regarding your loved one. However, with increased stability in the relationship, these serotonin levels increase, lessening those anxious feelings. Additionally, to understand the brain’s role in long-term love, the study was conducted among newly-married couples. The results showed that the brain’s basal ganglia was activated. This part of the brain is responsible for motor control and is “involved in promoting attachment, giving humans and other mammals the ability to stick it out even when things aren’t going so well.” It is located in the brain hemispheres, which are the portions of the brain. According to Brown, the neural activity of couples married even twenty years ago was in line with those in their honeymoon phase. A longer love can boost activation in areas such as the angular gyrus and the mirror neuron system, which help anticipate the behavior of others. Thus, people in love with the same person for long periods are more likely to be able to finish each other’s sentences and understand the individual on a deeper level. This love doesn’t just have to be romantic either. Though intimate pairs can experience this high level of brain activation, so can mothers when they look at their children, or teenagers when they see their pets. Although it won’t be as intense, the activity still provides a feeling of connectedness.

Gut-Brain Communication

The brain acts as the leader for emotions felt in the gut as well. The famous butterflies in the stomach sensation is a common phenomenon, but it isn’t just experienced by the gut. Though these butterflies can be felt when an individual feels anxious, excited, or nervous, many people falling in love have also been said to feel this sensation. In this case, the reason would most likely be excitement. Due to the dopamine and norepinephrine released by several areas of the brain, including the VTA, the feel-good emotion is mixed with the “fight or flight” response. During this immediate sensation, anxiety or agitation levels can increase. This nervousness and pleasure together can make the body excited and aroused. Broadly, however, the gut-brain axis is responsible for these feelings.

According to a report by the National Library of Science, the “autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and nerves within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, all link the gut and the brain.” As the brain and the immune system are a part of this axis, the whole pathway displays the cooperation between the human body. The neurotransmitters from the brain allow the neurons from the nervous system to communicate with the organ, so they can act on the specific request. The central nervous system can cause a chill to go down one’s spine when hearing or experiencing an interaction with someone attractive. The responses to sensory information allow for more intimate arousal to occur as well. Although this is all crucial to the journey, if a focus is given to the gut, the enteric nervous system is responsible for being a second mind. The enteric nervous system is “the largest and most complex unit of the peripheral nervous system” with around “600 million neurons releasing a multitude of neurotransmitters to facilitate the motor, sensory, absorptive, and secretory functions of the gastrointestinal tract.” In simple words, this is the digestive system’s own nervous system, and it allows for an amazing gut-brain connection. Any attraction, nervousness, or excitement can create “undulations” in the gut. This is where the phrase “listen to your gut,” comes from. These flutters don’t determine the intensity of the passion, but they do display the individual’s own emotions towards the situation. If these butterflies are felt every time they see the person, they are more likely to want to build a stronger relationship based on intimacy and respect.

Love Increasing Immune Efficiency

Now, the profound impact of love on the human body also extends to the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for dealing with stress. A letter by Tobias Esch and George B. Stefano named The Neurobiology of Love provides insight into the advantages love can provide for the body. These include motivation and the lessening of stress levels. Dr. Esch’s and Dr. Stefanos’ writing quotes, “love, pleasure, and lust have a stress-reducing and health-promoting potential, since they carry the ability to heal or facilitate beneficial motivation and behavior.” Individuals who can cope with their stress more effectively show better “immune functions and sexual performance” as their body isn’t experiencing heavy levels of pressure. The neurotransmitters often relax the body when someone is with their loved one. Additionally, feelings of support and security from that specific person can lead to the facilitation of belief and trust in each other. This indirectly induces positive behavior and healthy motivation. With constant stimulus to continue living life and the increased sexual performance, the probability of reproduction is increased, allowing the body to directly work towards survival. The potential of love in stress reduction is quite outstanding and effective for humankind.

The connection between love and the immune system is a testament to the meticulous ways in which the power of emotions shapes not only our mental well-being but also our physical determination. As science continues to unravel the mysteries of how love affects the body, it becomes increasingly clear that this bewildering and multifaceted emotion is woven into the very fabric of our existence, impacting everything from neurotransmitter release to immune response.

Works Cited