BRAINPICKER
"Sometimes, someone comes into your life so unexpectedly, takes your heart by surprise, and changes your life forever."
LOVE
It's a strange and touchy subject. Love has many scientific aspects, as well as some theoretical ones.
THE SCIENCE
Scientifically, love is caused by certain hormones throughout the brain.
OXYTOCIN
The cuddle hormone.
VASSOPRESSIN
The hormone that causes the want for a long-term relationship.
ADRENALINE
The hormone that activates when you see someone you like.
DOPAMINE
What "love-struck" couples feel. It causes good feelings.
SEROTONIN
The most important chemical in love. It's what keeps you in love.
PRAIRIE VOLES
One of the 3% of mammals that form "family" relationships, similar to humans.
Prairie voles are some of the only animals to form families similar to what humans do. When they have offspring, both parents take care of them. This is because the voles produce the same hormone that causes humans to want to form families.
FUN FACT:
The "love-hormones" cause the same effects as addiction. Essentially, chemical addiction is what causes love.
CASE STUDY
An extremely interesting study found that following the following steps almost guarantees people to fall in love. Two pairs of the subjects even ended up getting married after the experiment.
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Steps:
Find a complete stranger
Reveal to each other intimate details about your lives for half an hour.
Then, stare deeply into each other’s eyes without talking for four minutes.