Specifically, when you feel intense love for someone or something, the hormone oxytocin or vasopressin is often released, leading to a feeling of warmth or fluttering in your chest.
Love and other emotions are actually regulated in the brain, not the heart. Specifically, a part of the brain called the amygdala. People might partly associate the heart with strong emotions like love because when we get excited to see someone, our heart sometimes beats faster, and we notice our heartbeat.
Love can give us a physical reaction. A quickened heart rate, butterflies in our stomachs, dilated pupils, sweaty palms, a hard time finding words, the instinctive urge to physically touch are just a few ways in which love can physically affect us. Sex as a physical act of love can reap many benefits.
Researchers found that certain emotions could be grouped together – for example, anger, anxiety and fear were all associated with strong sensations in the chest area. On the other hand, volunteers reported that happiness and even love sparked activity all over their body.
Dopamine creates feelings of euphoria while adrenaline and norepinephrine are responsible for the pitter-patter of the heart, restlessness and overall preoccupation that go along with experiencing love. MRI scans indicate that love lights up the pleasure center of the brain.
High levels of dopamine and a related hormone, norepinephrine, are released during attraction. These chemicals make us giddy, energetic, and euphoric, even leading to decreased appetite and insomnia – which means you actually can be so “in love” that you can't eat and can't sleep.
You feel intensely happy when you're in love. You can't stop thinking about them, talking about them with your friends, and your heart still goes pitter-patter when their name pops up on your phone screen. “You are excited to see them and are elated when you're around them,” Dr. Montgomery says.
This area often relates to powerful feelings of love, grief and depression; when tight, blocked or dis-eased, imbalances in the chest heart space can lead to poor mental health outcomes or even cardiac conditions.
Along with the emotional baggage it carries, extreme sadness can cause distinctive physical sensations in the chest: tight muscles, a pounding heart, rapid breathing, and even a churning stomach. As you can see on the body map, survey respondents pinpointed the chest as a major spot for the manifestation of sadness.
You know you're falling in love when your someone begins to take up major real estate in your thoughts. You might find yourself rehashing your conversations in the middle of work, thinking about your next date days in advance, or even envisioning your future together.
Difference between love and attachment
Love evokes fond feelings and actions toward the other person, particularly. Attachment is driven by how you feel about yourself with the degree of permanence and safety someone gives you, based on your past relationships.
You feel their pain.
Love can make you feel attuned to your partner's needs. “Your love is growing when you have an increased sense of empathy toward your partner,” says Madeline Cooper, LCSW, a psychotherapist and certified sex therapist in New York and New Jersey. “When they feel sad, you feel sad.
When we fall in love, our brains release chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, & serotonin that can create feelings of pleasure & happiness. While the heart is often associated with love, it is actually the brain that processes our emotions & determines how we respond to them.
The initial happy feelings of being in love is stimulated by 3 chemicals in the brain: noradrenaline that stimulates adrenaline production causing that racing heart and sweaty palms; dopamine, the feel-good chemical; and phenylethylamine that is released when we're near our crush, giving us butterflies in our tummies.
Anecdotally, love is a matter of the heart. However, the main organ affected by love is actually the brain.
Experts have said that romantic love is one of the most powerful emotions a person can have. Humans' brains have been wired to choose a mate, and we humans become motivated to win over that mate, sometimes going to extremes to get their attention and affection.
Limerence has a biological basis. When we are first attracted to someone, our brains release chemicals like norepinephrine and dopamine, which make our hearts flutter and make us feel happy.
These erratic patterns are sent to the emotional centers in the brain, which it recognizes as negative or stressful feelings. These signals create the actual feelings we experience in the heart area and the body. The erratic heart rhythms also block our ability to think clearly.
Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles. These “packages” allow the emotional information to stay in our body parts until we can “release” it. Negative emotions in particular have a long-lasting effect on the body.
Scientists have found that happy events in our lives can trigger a rare heart condition known as takotsubo syndrome (TTS), characterised by a temporary weakening of the heart's muscles.
Research shows a strong connection between your emotions and your heart. Love, anger, sadness, depression, loneliness, hostility, a Type A personality – all of these can affect the function and rhythms of your heart.
Physical attraction, sexual compatibility, empathy, and emotional connection are key to making a man fall in love with a woman.
Deep love may be referred to as unconditional love or a soulmate connection. Although it can take time and effort to find this connection, it is often possible.
When you kiss someone, your body releases happy hormones. A rush of dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin hits your system the moment your lips lock. With this positive cocktail and a heart-fluttering kiss, you'll feel like you're on cloud nine! Lips are one of your body's most sensually sensitive areas.