Falling in love is the most overwhelming of all affective states, it typically involves emotional, cognitive, behavioral and erotic components. The functions of romantic love appear not to be limited to generate offsprings, but also to promote in individuals a stable emotional environment as well as to arise pleasant and safe feelings of happiness and sex arousal.
The process of romantic love in humans begins with falling in love, a subjective experience characterized by intense focused attention on a preferred individual, obsessive thinking about him or her, emotional dependency on and craving for emotional union with this beloved, euphoria and increased energy
Researchers think that falling in love is a basic emotion like anxiety or fear. When falling in love the same brain structures as in anxiety are stimulated: the amygdala and related circuits and neurotransmittors. Human beings are anxious until the bond with the loved one is accomplished. Anxiety is than replaced by positive feelings of stability and pleasure. The euphoria and focused attention when falling in love is explained by involvement of the reward and motivation systems in the human brain.
The neurochemical and hormonal basis of falling in love:
- Reduced functionality of the serotonin transporter
- Cortisol levels are significantly higher amongst those subjects who have recently fallen in love, this suggests the stressful and arousing condition associated with falling in love
- FSH and testosterone levels are lower in men in love, while women of the same group presented higher testosterone levels. The opposite directions of the testosterone levels in men and women have not yet been clarified
- Nerve growth factor, one of the key regulators of synaptic plasticity and neural survival during development and at adulthood and also increasingly recognized as potential mediator of anxiety, emotions and behavioral modifications, is significantly elevated compared to subjects with long lasting relationship and with subjects without a relationship. There was also a significant positive correlation between levels of NGF and the intensity of romantic love as assessed with the passionate love scale
- Other regulators of synaptic plasticity and neural survival during development and at adulthood and also increasingly recognized as potential mediator of anxiety, emotions and behavioral modifications such as neurotrophins 3 and 4 and brain derived neurotrophic factor were not significantly diferent from those in love and subjects with a long lasting relationship and subjects being alone
In conclusion the neurobiological substrate of falling in love not only involves activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and increase of cortisol levels. Also central neuropeptides such as vasopressine and oxytocin may play a role in the regulation of the HPA axis when falling in love. Since recent peripheral levels of neurotrophins have been investigated when falling in love but only the nerve growth factor is significantly elevated. This last factor is also connected with cortisol and the other central neuropeptides. The authors of this last research speculate that:
NGF could play a role in the molecular mechanisms of human romantic love by acting as a fine modulator of distinct endocrine functions. Alternatively, another possibility to explain our results may be that NGF plasma concentrations in subjects in love would be raised secondarily in a stress-dependent manner.
All the hormone and neuropeptide concentrations mentioned in the list are reversible in the sense that these hormones and neuropeptides revers to normal levels.
This finding would suggest that the hormonal changes which we observed are reversible, state-dependent and probably related to some physical and/or psychological features typically associated with falling in love.
Loving, T., Crockett, E., & Paxson, A. (2009). Passionate love and relationship thinkers: Experimental evidence for acute cortisol elevations in women Psychoneuroendocrinology DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.01.010
MARAZZITI, D. (2004). Hormonal changes when falling in love Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29 (7), 931-936 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2003.08.006
EMANUELE, E., POLITI, P., BIANCHI, M., MINORETTI, P., BERTONA, M., & GEROLDI, D. (2006). Raised plasma nerve growth factor levels associated with early-stage romantic love Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31 (3), 288-294 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.09.002
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I would expect dopamine activity here !
The links between specific molecules and an abstract concept such as falling in love are so tenuous that I even have a hard time calling them correlative. The actions of cortisol, NGF and other molecular factors are so broad and non-specific that any rise in their levels can be the result of a great many factors and have diffuse consequences. It is almost like stating that a Ca2+ rise in cells is related to falling in love, or that action potential firing in a specific type of neuron increases when we see someone we find attractive. I’m sure both of those latter statments are true, but I have no idea what that teaches us about love, or its neural substrates.
Besides, these studies rely on self-reporting, and anyone who has been in a relationship knows that a person’s definition of love can be all over the map.
Thanks for your valuable comment put things into perspective. Kind regards Dr Shock
Very high levels of certain neurotransmitters may follow very high degrees of emotions.
But this does’nt tell us nothing about what causes what.
Noah Gray, I think you are right.
When very high degrees of emotions follow very high degrees of injected neurotransmitters there will be a human control.
Other neurotransmitters will correct the misleading message.
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This anecdote is offered as such, with no argument as to the validity of any hypotheses above:
I did a Master’s level post-bacc medical science program which involved lots of pathology and dissection. I applied to the medical school and decided to take the year off and work. During the summer, I met my now-husband and fell in love. I underwent a religious conversion. In November we got engaged and I received my acceptance letter.
The following August I started gross anatomy as do all med students. I was revolted and could barely stand to be in the room with the cadavers. As the year went on, I also had difficulty with pictures that showed severe pathology.
My own conjecture has been that my brain was flooded with oxytocin and NGF, allowing me to accept a new religious outlook that I had previously resisted. At the same time, I became much more sensitive to issues of life and death as well as love and loss.
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is it possible, that cortisol has a direct effect on nerve-cells and that the ngf-levels thus rise, in order to “repair” the nerve-cells … which would be of interest for the understanding of certain ms-features…?