I apologize now this is a long article it just caught my attention because it kinda reminds me of my current status with a certain someone. so again if its too long feel free to tune out and next week I'll keep it short..hopefully there will be more news on this topic.
What is love? What attracts two people together? Why is love like a drug, giving us a natural high that is so addictive? Why do we fixate and obsess on the ones we love? Why are relationships all about passion at first, then about tenderness in the long run? Why the afterglow?
And why do men see sex as a stress-reliever when, on the other hand, women don’t want to have anything to do with it when they’re stressed out? And, for all the lonely singles out there, how can we achieve the same sensations that love brings without a romantic partner? Science has the answer to all these.
Researchers have broken down attraction, passion, obsession, ecstasy, tenderness and fidelity into their chemical components: pheromones, phenylethylamine, norepinephrine, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, respectively.
Pheromones and attraction
Pheromones, partly responsible for sexual attraction, are chemicals that the body releases into the atmosphere to subconsciously communicate information about one’s self.
Pheromones can communicate when an animal is fertile or virile. Humans, like other animals, have evolved to communicate this information since it makes sense to copulate for reproductive purposes only when a female is fertile and a male virile. Pheromones are the reason why women, when in close proximity to one another for long periods of time, begin to sync their menstruation, which scientists postulate levels the playing field among females competing for male suitors who approach the same group. (Women, as ever, are so competitive.)
Androstadienone, a pheromone produced by men, triggers among women higher levels of cortisol, a hormone that the body produces to prepare it for intense physical action, be it flight, fight or sex. However, cortisol is also known as the “stress hormone” and having it elevated when one is already fatigued or harassed is most unwelcome. This is why women do not want to have anything to do with men’s sexual advances when they are stressed out. (Men, on the other hand, benefit from sex as a physical outlet for their stress.)
Pheromones can even communicate what individual characteristics a creature may possess. In experiments conducted by Professor Martha McClintock at the University of Chicago, women preferred the smell of men who was genetically similar, but not too similar, to their fathers. In an interview with CNN’s medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, McClintock explains that procreating with a man who is too different “leads to the loss of desirable gene combinations” while “mating with someone too similar might lead to inbreeding.”
In humans, pheromones are produced in the axilla (armpit). However, pheromones are not to be confused with bromhidrosis (body odor), which is caused by bacteria digesting the sweat in one’s moist, hot and hairy axilla. Sweat and pheromones are themselves odorless.
Only members of the same species respond to respective pheromones, hence musk perfumes derived from glands of animals do not work for humans (unless one is into bestial affairs with musk deer). Furthermore, several extensive studies, including one entitled "Pheromones and Animal Behavior: Communication by Smell and Taste"(Wyatt, Tristram D.), have found no evidence that body sprays marketed as aphrodisiacs based on human pheromones influence human behavior, specifically attraction and copulation.
Phenylethylamine and passion
Phenylethylamine (PEA), a stimulant that accelerates the reaction of nerve cells, is produced by the body and can be found in certain foods, most notably chocolate. Researchers have found that the body increases production of phenylethylamine when one is sexually attracted.
In his book The Science of Love: Understanding Love and Its Effects on Mind and Body, author Anthony Walsh notes the stimulant’s narcotic effect: “Love is a natural high. PEA gives you that silly smile that you flash at strangers. When we meet someone who is attractive to us, the whistle blows at the PEA factory.”
However, like any drug, the body’s sensitivity to it wanes with constant exposure. After developing a craving for phenylethylamine, one needs greater amounts just to get the same high. Though chocolate contains high amounts of phenylethylamine, ingesting it does not boost the body’s own natural supply.
Scientists have observed that after about three years, the phenylethylamine increase a particular lover may provoke in one’s body may wane, hence the loss of passion. Only a new stimulus for phenylethylamine—a new lover—can produce the longed-for high.
Norepinephrine and obsession
Norepinephrine, like cortisol, is a “stress hormone” that the body produces to ready muscles for action, be it flight, fight or sex. It signals the body to increase production of adrenaline.
Specifically, norepinephrine is necessary for the mind’s ability to maintain attention and focus. It is responsible for one’s devotion or obsession to one’s beau.
Norepinephrine, along with dopamine, is often prescribed for sufferers of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to heighten their alertness and prolong their attention span.
Dopamine and ecstasy
Dopamine is neurotransmitter produced by the body that is responsible for feelings of intense pleasure, the “natural high” and the “afterglow.” In particular, it surges during orgasm.
Dopamine is essential in ingraining behavior that is beneficial to the body (such eating, hydration, relaxation, intense exercise and sex) by rewarding it with a sense of pleasure.
Harmful narcotics create addiction by exploiting the body’s natural behavioral reward system. Abused over time, the body’s sensitivity to dopamine wanes, hence the need or ever-increasing dosages to achieve the same high.
A shortage of dopamine is also the cause of Parkinson’s Disease, which deprives a person of smooth controlled movements.
Like phenylethylamine and norepinephrine, the dopamine increases that a lover may stimulate in one’s body may wane after repeated and prolonged exposure.
Oxytocin and tenderness
Oxytocin is a hormone that stimulates uterine contraction for pregnant women and lactation for breastfeeding mothers. Oxytocin is responsible for bonding mothers to their children for life.
It makes them want to snuggle their baby affectionately. Just as importantly, it also is responsible for feelings of intimacy and tenderness between sexual partners.
Though this hormone is associated with orgasms, simple hugs, kisses and displays of affection and moments of tenderness also produce the same amounts of oxytocin.
Unlike phenylethylamine, norepinephrine and dopamine whose effects wane in time, oxytocin effects remain constant, allowing affectionate couples to stay true instead of stray.
Endorphins and fidelity
Endorphins, like dopamine, are neurotransmitters that facilitate the transmission of data along the nerves. Specifically, endorphins, allow the body to ignore and endure pain, imbuing one with sense of calm and peace.
This naturally produced painkiller acts much like morphine but without addictive side effects. It is responsible for the “runner’s high,” which occurs when athletes surpass their threshold of pain to attain new heights of physical exertion and are rewarded by the body with a feeling elation. Relaxation techniques such as massages, yoga and acupuncture as well as certain foods such as hot chilies and chocolate also stimulate endorphin release.
Most importantly, having a constant loving companion gradually increases production of endorphins in the body, rewarding fidelity as a behavior.
Anthropologist Helen Fisher, author of Anatomy of Love, explains, “That is one reason why it feels so horrible when we’re abandoned or a lover dies. We don’t have our daily hit of narcotics.”
Unlike stimulants with fleeting effects such as phenylethylamine, norepinephrine and dopamine, relaxants such as endorphins and oxytocin have constant, lasting benefits that allow loving couples to stay true for the rest of their lives. Lovers choose which kind of natural high they prefer.
original article.category:
Diane von Furstenberg WomenFeatured Product on Bayho:
TATIANA by Diane von Furstenberg
