Must be love on the brain!
There’s a reason why so many books are written about romance; it can be a dizzying all-consuming feeling that can make you, well a bit of a sieve head.
Yet there must be a reason why being in love can completely throw you for a loop right?
Well scientists have conducted a study and the results are fascinating, it turns out that big mushy feeling actually changes the way our brains operate.
Adam Bode, a PhD student at The Australian National University and Dr Phil Kavanagh, of the University of Canberra and University of South Australia teamed up to conduct a study of over 1,500 young adults who identified as being in love.
They asked those involved questions about how they behave when they’re with their other halves.
The researchers were looking specifically at the behavioural activation system or BAS, within the body to see how or if it changes when in love.
The BAS is a mechanism believed to control how certain behaviours are motivated through reward and positive reinforcement so it makes sense why they focused their attention towards it.
Through their research, scientists found that the brain operates differently during a particularly loved-up period, with thoughts centred around the person you’re in love with.
So if you’ve ever heard someone say their partner is the centre of their universe there’s some truth to it!
In the study, published in the Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Dr Kavanagh explains the hormone oxytocin could play a role in altering how we think.
“We know the role that oxytocin plays in romantic love because we get waves of it circulating throughout our nervous system and bloodstream when we interact with loved ones,” he said.
“The way that loved ones take on special importance, however, is due to oxytocin combining with dopamine, a chemical that our brain releases during romantic love.
“Essentially, love activates pathways in the brain associated with positive feelings.”
You learn something new every day!
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