In the matters of the heart, the brain reigns supreme, it has been revealed.
Larry Young, a psychologist who studies love at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said that brain releases a cocktail of three chemicals, oxytocin, dopamine and opiates, which makes people fall in love, ABC News reported.
All of those acts together in the brain's reward system, which becomes wired to be especially tuned to the partner; the space, the sound, maybe the smell of the partner, he further added.
Oxytocin, not be confused with the drug oxycodone, is sometimes called the "cuddle hormone," and is responsible for the bonding between mother and baby and between partners. Dopamine is involved in exhilaration and excitement, Young said. Cocaine and sex both cause the brain to release dopamine. Opiates cause feelings of warmth and pleasure. Heroine and sex both cause the brain to release opiates.
Young further mentioned that the next time people see the partners, their reward system would be activated and love can also be like addiction.
