There are plenty of one-liners in both the film and literary versions of the vampire story "Twilight" that are known to provoke eye rolls (even among fans). But one particular sentence from lead bloodsucker Edward Cullen seems to stick with viewers and readers: "You're like my own personal brand of heroin."
While Cullen's profession of love to his mortal soulmate, Bella Swan, might seem over the top in every way, he's not totally off the mark. As it turns out, like narcotics, love can absolutely be habit-forming and even compulsive. And if you've ever been in love, you've probably at least considered classifying the feeling as an addiction. And guess what: You were right. As it turns out, your gut feeling was right — scientists have spent decades discovering how the same chemical process at play in other kinds of addiction plays a role in why, when and how that takes place with addiction takes place when we fall in love.
The truth is, love isn't simply a societal construct or a silly concept that's central to over-the-top epic romances and cheesy rom-coms. Love is a chemical state of mind that's part of our genes and influenced by our upbringing. Humans are wired for romance for many reasons, but in part because our DNA is driving us toward a path of becoming loving parents who care diligently for our helpless offspring (whether or not we choose to fulfill that destiny is of course another story, but our drive to love remains, regardless).
In this article, we'll find out what love really is and what happens in our bodies that makes us fall in love — and ensures we stay there. We'll also look at what attracts us to someone in the first place. Is it their pheromones, or do they just fit the right "love template?"
Romantic love both exhilarates and motivates us. It is also critical to the continuation of our species. Without the attachment of romantic love, we would live in an entirely different society that more closely resembled some (but not all) of those social circles in the animal world. The chemicals that race around in our brain when we're in love serve several purposes, and the primary goal is the continuation of our species. Those chemicals are what make us want to form families and have children. Once we have children, those chemicals change to encourage us to stay together to raise those children. So in a sense, love really is a chemical addiction that occurs to keep us reproducing.
There's solid science to support the chemistry of love in all its forms. According to a 1997 paper entitled "Lust, Attraction, and Attachment in Mammalian Reproduction," by Dr. Helen Fisher from Rutgers University, romantic love can be broken down into three categories: lust, attraction and attachment. And depending on the type of love you're talking about, different bodily chemicals are involved.
Lust, driven by the desire for sexual gratification, is primarily motivated by the production of sex hormones testosterone and estrogen thanks to the brain's hypothalamus. Attraction, although closely related, is something different; it hinges on the brain's reward system and is the reason why new relationships feel so insanely intoxicating. This form of love relies on other hypothalamus products: dopamine and norepinephrine, which induce giddy, energetic, euphoria. And attachment, the main factor in long-term relationships, is largely rooted in the hormones oxytocin (aka "the cuddle hormone") and vasopressin, which promote bonding.
Regardless of the country or culture, romantic love plays an important part. While cultural differences in how that love is displayed vary greatly, the fact that romantic love exists is undisputed.
