The Science of Love: How Doctors and Psychologists Study Our Senses
Scientists have determined the price of love - True, not in monetary terms. According to the research group from Oxford, the price of love is at least two close friends with whom a person stops communicating in order to pay more attention to a partner. Financial spending is also growing: new hobbies make us prone to compulsive purchases.
Love is actively studied by both doctors and psychologists. But if the first one is more interested in the hormonal component (how it all works from the inside), then the second one is mostly emotional. We collected the most interesting of both areas.
Text: Marina Levicheva
How hormones work
Each person understands love in his own way, and a serious feeling of sympathy also develops in all of them in different ways. But if you look at what happens to the body at this time, it turns out that no one is unique. Helen Fisher, one of the most famous researchers in the biochemistry of love, identifies three stages of feeling: lust, attraction and affection. Lust occurs as a result of the activity of sex hormones estrogen and testosterone that are produced inovaries and testes. Although these hormones are often called "female" and "male", respectively, they are in the human body of either sex. At this stage, sexual desire is born - but they all can end.
The attraction is formed by the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, which are associated with the primary reward and emotions. Chemicals program the brain in such a way that a person cannot think of anything other than the object of his love, and at the same time he feels very happy. In addition, at the stage of attraction, there is a decrease in the level of serotonin, affecting mood and appetite. Finally, attachment is something without which long-term romantic relationships are impossible, as well as the fact that, unlike the first two stages, it mediates friendship and any other close and trusting relationships. Responsible for what happens two hormones:oxytocin (responsible for communication at the biochemical level and secreted by the hypothalamus during orgasm in men and women, as well as during childbirth and lactation in women) and vasopressin (increases attraction to one particular person).
Why love hurts
Given that almost all the “hormones of love” work with the brain in a positive way, it seems that love is a perfect feeling. But those who remember that falling in love and love are also accompanied by jealousy, compulsive and irrational behavior, unmotivated sadness, hidden and not very aggression towards people who are close to the love object, and so on, disagree with that.
Hormones are also responsible for the shortcomings of love. In the first place is actively distinguished dopaminewhich was studied in great detail in connection with his participation in the formation of addictions, including from drugs, alcohol and sugar; for example, when parting, even just for a day, symptoms of withdrawal appear, as if the substance that caused the addiction was abandoned. In the second place - oxytocin, which, as shown by studies with narcotic substances MDMA and GGB, in large quantities can cause a person to act recklessly. Not so long ago, scientists once again looked at the nature of love as an addiction, noting that it can probably also be treated. In the future - pills that will block the hormonal pathways that cause "love addiction."
What pheromones are and how they work
Despite the fact that perfume with pheromones seem to be a homeopathy from the world of perfumery, to create something like this is quite real. Another thing is that few people would agree to wear a perfume with such a "magic" scent. Studying pheromones with the help of rodents, which have a special vomeronasal organ in their nose, complementing the olfactory system, scientists found out that rats feel pheromones in each other's urine, and then use them to find the perfect match for themselves.
Since rats and humans are very similar, the search for a miracle organ in a person’s nose remained only a matter of time. In 1986, scientists said that the axillary secrets of men and women can affect the menstrual cycle. And when, in 1995, the Swiss Klaus Wedekind asked a group of women to sniff some T-shirts worn by various men during the day, an analysis of the results showed that women always chose men with a different immune system than their own. This suggests that the reaction to pheromones is evolutionary, since the interaction of two different immune systems will contribute to the emergence of offspring with better survival. By the way, in 2016, the study confirmed.
On the other hand, the most famous pheromones of the steroid nature androstadienone (contained in male sweat and sperm) and estratetraenol (contained in female urine) do not stand the test of research. And although scientists do not deny that pheromones still exist, they suggest starting the search again.
36 questions to fall in love
"36 questions to fall in love" is a testing with a scientific focus, based on the study of psychologist Arthur Aaron and his team. Keeping in mind that mutual vulnerability contributes to intimacy, Aaron has composed three groups of questions designed to speed up a rapprochement between two strangers. The questions are arranged in such a way that each new group should reveal more and more: from describing the ideal day and desired superpowers, the couple gradually comes to analyze the relationship with the mother and select only one item that can be saved from the burning house. It is assumed that the questions need to be answered in turn, without missing a single one, and in the final for four minutes to look into each other’s eyes.
In January 2015, writer Mandy Len Catron told the New York Times how she fell in love with a man for 36 questions. It would seem that this confirms the theory - but Catron herself suggested that although questions and truth contributed to intimacy, most likely, two people already had some feelings for each other, otherwise they would not have started an experiment on themselves. "It is difficult to fully pay tribute to the study, because it could happen anyway," concluded Ketron. The same way, by the way, psychoanalyst Sofi Kadalen spoke in analyzing the test, suggesting that the questionnaire does not create falling in love, but it prepares a good ground for it.
How else to contribute attachment
For example, on the first date, you can order soup, but not dessert, because physical warmth makes us feel warmer towards the person who is nearby. And also - to look in the eyes of the interlocutor, as eye contact enhances the feeling of affection, and the longer it is the better. In matters of the right impression will help smile and good deeds. And do not forget about light touches, which at least make a person feel an inexplicable sympathy for you - just keep in mind the principles of consent and do not touch people, if you are not sure one hundred percent that they do not mind.
And another curious conclusion: according to a small study, female friends are better than men, predicting how relationships will develop and whether they have a future. So if you really want to forecast, it is better to turn it to her friends.
Why do people kiss
Of course, this is pleasant - but such an answer does not seem to be quite scientific. But science has a version that through contact of lips mothers transferred chewed food to children who could not chew yet, and over time the action became fixed. In support of evolutionary theory says the fact that not all people kiss. This is not characteristic of some cultures, and also, according to one study conducted on American students, people are “neurotic,” “dependent on mothers,” “with low self-esteem,” who, unlike peers, “consume less alcohol” and “ more successful in their studies. " And the theory of kisses seems to be the most viable scientist as a way to find a suitable partner through the exchange of biological information.
A few words about kisses for health: they, scientists believe, can contribute to greater satisfaction with relationships, and at the same time improve self-perception, help immunity, stabilize cholesterol levels, burn calories - a trifle, and nicely - and reduce the severity of allergy symptoms.
What is wrong with love at first sight
According to a recent survey on the topic, more than 60% of men and women believe in the existence of love at first sight. As for the nature of such love, then, according to scientists, it can be both a chemical reaction in the brain associated with sympathy and a "positive illusion." In the latter case, it’s about the fact that if two people love each other and have been together for a long time, they will be sure that they fell in love at first sight (even if in fact it wasn’t all right).
Another group of researchers found that within a few seconds, people understand whether they find a person attractive or not. But this is also not love at first sight - but an instant attraction, and moreover a sexual one.
Is love possible without sex
Of course. Of course. Still would. Despite the fact that sex can fight a cold, relieve a headache, as well as reduce the risks associated with cancer, even from the point of view of science, it is not a prerequisite for romantic relationships. Israeli researcher Aaron Ben-Zeev, summing up the available data on the topic, came to the conclusion that emotional love is more important for love than love, but not physical affection of the partner. Although one does not exclude the other.
And another thing: if people are willing to work on relationships, the quality of sex and satisfaction from it will be higher than that of those who believe in instant chemistry and that everything will turn out by itself.
Love on the Web: what do we know about it
Almost every person has a familiar couple who met on the Internet. Given how solidly social networks and all sorts of technologies have entered our lives, this is not surprising. On the other hand, often we are talking about all the same chance (as when meeting on the street, only now in Tinder) and all the same communication, which over time allows us to understand that people are interested in each other, but not on a targeted search.
In the experiment, the Air Force, sharpened just to form a "scientific approach" to dating on special sites, it was found that the correct questionnaire should contain 70% of information about yourself and 30% of the requirements for a partner to attract attention. And it’s better - although here, of course, you don’t have to choose - if your name begins with a letter from the first part of the alphabet, because it’s often that they write more and more on dating services.
In general, many researchers say that the search for love is not such a difficult task, if you do not focus on ideals. An analysis of 3,700 decisions of people participating in speed-dating showed that those who concentrated on the "ideal parameters", be it height, age, or clothing style, were more likely to leave the event disappointed. And these results can be extrapolated to dating in general - both offline and on the web.
PHOTO: creativesunday - stock.adobe.com, Olha Kozachenko - stock.adobe.com, Kesinee - stock.adobe.com
