HOW LOVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN

It's common to hear people describe love as joyful, devastating, or even heart-wrenching.

Love is an elusive force that pierces through barriers and seduces the human heart. It is a powerful feeling that entwined spirits and sparked an unfathomable joy. Love is the kind gesture that mends hurt feelings and the kind words that comfort tired spirits. It is a harmonious expression of empathy, comprehension, and acceptance. Love evokes a kaleidoscope of feelings, including joy, passion, and vulnerability. It is the unshakable connection that endures time and fosters development. Love empowers, invigorates, and transforms, making both giving and receiving beautiful. The basis of our existence is fueled by a heavenly connection.

What relevance does the brain therefore have to this?

Everything!

A symphony of neurochemicals and brain systems govern the course of the voyage from the initial spark to the last tear.

You can find yourself thinking about someone a lot and wanting to get out with them more and more as you start to fall in love.

Psychologists refer to this initial stage of love as infatuation or passionate love.

When it comes to the brain, it's not far from the truth that your new connection can feel practically intoxicating.

People who are in love have more activity in their ventral tegmental region.

When you do things like consume a delicious treat, relieve your thirst, or in more extreme circumstances, utilize illegal narcotics, the VTA—the brain's reward-processing and motivation hub—fires.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, is released during activation, which teaches your brain to repeat actions in the hope of getting the same original reward.

Congrats on finding your ideal companion.

Love's impact on upper cortical brain regions is responsible for this haze.

Love not only makes you feel euphoric, but it also pulls you toward your new lover due to the increased VTA activity.

It could be difficult to detect any flaws in your brand-new ideal mate at this early stage.

The effect of love on higher cortical brain regions is what causes this haze.

The prefrontal cortex, the brain's cognitive center, had less activity in some people who are just starting to fall in love.

It seems sense that we tend to see new connections through rose-colored glasses because activation of this region enables us to pass judgment and participate in critical analysis.

This initial stage of love, which can be a whirlwind of emotions and mental activity, usually lasts only a few months before the more persistent stage of love, known as attachment or compassionate love.

As your relationship progresses, two chemicals, oxytocin and vasopressin, may help you feel more at ease and devoted to your partner.

They are known as pair-bonding hormones, and they indicate attachment, social support, and trust.

Since these hormones also strengthen relationships within families and friendships, romantic love is similar to other types of love in this regard.

The insular cortex, a part of the brain that deals with pain—both physical, like when you twist your ankle, and social, like when you feel rejected—is activated by the misery of a breakup.

The stress axis in your body is probably also activated by this emotional maelstrom, leaving you disturbed and restless.

Exercise, hanging out with friends, or even listening to your favorite music might help you control this breakup stress reaction and produce dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter.

And most people can recover and grow from even the most severe heartbreak given enough time and encouragement. Love is a realm where the mind surrenders its logic and surrenders to emotions. It is a sanctuary where reason and rationale often take a backseat to the whims of the heart. Love expands the boundaries of the mind, allowing it to explore depths of passion, vulnerability, and connection that surpass mere intellect.