The brain seals the deal by releasing oxytocin, often called “the love hormone.” It's a neuropeptide produced in the hypothalamus and secreted by the pituitary gland during times of intimacy, like hugging, breastfeeding and orgasm.
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.
Researchers have scanned the brains of people who are madly in love and found a heavy surge of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain's reward system that helps people feel pleasure. Dopamine, along with other chemicals, gives us that energy, focus, and obsession we feel when we're wild about someone.
Oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin are often referred to as our “happy hormones.” When you're attracted to another person, your brain releases dopamine, your serotonin levels increase, and oxytocin is produced.
As oxytocin is associated with trust, sexual arousal and relationship building, it's sometimes referred to as the “love hormone” or “cuddle chemical.” Oxytocin levels also increase when you're hugging someone and when you're experiencing an orgasm.
Results: Testosterone has a primary role in controlling and synchronizing male sexual desire and arousal, acting at multiple levels.
Oxytocin, also known as the love or bonding hormone, promotes feelings of intimacy and closeness. The body releases it after orgasm.
Hugging, kissing, cuddling, and sexual intimacy can all trigger oxytocin production, which can strengthen bonds between adults, too. These effects have led oxytocin to be grouped with the other happy hormones — hormones known to have a positive impact on mood and emotions.
But those sweetly warm feelings we connect to our heart are actually chemicals and hormones flooding an organ higher up – our brain.
Romantic chemistry focuses on characteristics present between two people, including mutual interests, similarity, and intimacy. According to Kelly Campbell, P.h.D., the more present these characteristics are, the more likely two individuals will perceive chemistry between each other.
When you first fall in love, dopamine, the feel-good brain chemical associated with reward, is especially active. “That is a mood intensifier, so people feel extremely positive and very appreciated,” Riess says — hence that “on cloud nine” feeling you get in the throes of a new relationship.
Romantic love occurs due to a combination of general attraction and social factors. When another person is attracted to you or likes you, that can increase your own liking, leading to romantic love. A potential union that satisfies general social norms can contribute to people falling in love.
Attraction is mediated by hormones of stress and reward including dopamine, norepinephrine cortisol and the serotinergic system and has the nucleus accumbens the ventral tegmental area as key mediators.
You bounce between exhilaration, euphoria, increased energy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, trembling, a racing heart and accelerated breathing, as well as anxiety, panic and feelings of despair when your relationship suffers even the smallest setback.
How long does the romantic phase last? Studies have estimated the euphoric stage can last anywhere from six months to two years. Although a small portion of the population (approximately 15% to 30%) say they are still in love and that it still feels like the first six months—even after 10 or 15 years later.
After about four years in a relationship, dopamine decreases and attraction goes down. If things are going well, it gets replaced by the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin, which create the desire to bond, affiliate with, and nurture your partner.
Physical attraction, sexual compatibility, empathy, and emotional connection are key to making a man fall in love with a woman.
When in love, neurochemicals like dopamine and oxytocin flood our brains in areas associated with pleasure and rewards, producing physical and psychological responses like less perceived pain, an addictive dependence, and a stronger desire for sex with your partner.
According to love biologist Dawn Maslar, the chemicals dopamine and vasopressin are vital for a man to start falling in love, whereas it's oxytocin and dopamine for women. Oxytocin, often nicknamed the love or cuddle hormone, also plays an important role in men but at a later stage.
The cuddle hormone
Men also have oxytocin, but it is compensated for by higher levels of testosterone - so they are less prone to cuddling!
Oxytocin also had no effect on the men's attitude toward the female experimenter — whether men received the oxytocin or the placebo, they rated her as being equally attractive. In a separate experiment, the researchers found oxytocin had no effect on the distance men kept between themselves and a male experimenter.
Because the female orgasm is just as important as the male experience, and it should never be ignored. Women should come first; it's totally achievable.
The more oxytocin your body produces (the more physical intimacy you experience), the more your body wants – increasing your desire. Low levels of oxytocin can lead to decreased sexual desire.
A new study shows that when men smell T-shirts worn by women while ovulating, it triggers a surge in the sex hormone testosterone. Researchers say it's the first study to show that olfactory cues to a woman's ovulation stimulate a biological response in men that may affect mating behavior.