Love is a chemical reaction in the body. Stages of love - chemistry in relationships

What is love? We have been trying to answer this question for centuries, but the science of chemistry puts an end to this discussion. Love is a chemical reaction in the body, which one you can find out by reading this article.

Firstly, it begins when we are attracted to an attractive member of the opposite sex, and a complex chemical reaction occurs in the brain, resulting in a hormone phenylethylamine- a hormone of passion and interest. After some time, when our passion is mutual, one of the most powerful hormones enters the blood - dopamine, causing that loving ecstasy that we experience in the heat of romantic love.

Hormone dopamine charges with strength, energy, pushes you to take risky actions and excites you. In its action, it is comparable to a drug, which is certainly addictive. You need more and more doses of the hormone dopamine, and if your feelings are not reciprocated, then this is comparable to drug withdrawal. Perhaps, unrequited love– one of the most severe shocks for the body; a person can fall into severe depression and even dare to commit suicide. To make up for the lack of love hormone, a person looks for a new partner, and everything repeats all over again.

If after romantic love the relationship moves into the next one - physical stage, then the hormone appears on the scene oxytocin, which evokes very strong emotions. Without it, orgasm and sexual satisfaction would be impossible. Moreover, In women, the release of this hormone is delayed, unlike men, this explains why women need long foreplay and frank conversations.

During intimacy, touches and kisses, hormone oxytocin is produced in ever-increasing quantities, which opens the way for the entry into the body of such a powerful painkiller as endorphin hormone. In terms of its composition and action, this hormone resembles morphine, it calms the nervous system, gives a feeling of peace and security. Hormone endophrine also called hormone happiness.The more often you find yourself in bed with the object of your passion, the more endorphin is produced, and the more attached you become to your partner. Of course, after such an intoxicating hormonal drink, we completely lose our heads and it doesn’t matter to us whether our feeling is mutual or not.

Here it begins to actively manifest itself molecule « PEA", due to which there is a need see, hear,touch your partner to put the mechanism for the production of the hormone endorphin into action again. This explains why lovers cannot live without each other even a day- our brain gets used to irritation and requires a new portion of hormones.

Molecule " PEA» continues to function not for long – only 2-4 years, then the production of the hormone endorphin also stops, and with him love disappears too. As sad as it may be, it is necessary to look for a new partner. However, if during this time a child is born in the family, then the need for hormones becomes not so great, and attachment can last up to 7 years, but not more. It is this seven-year mark that becomes critical for most couples when families break up.

2-Phenylethylamine (“love substance”). When experiencing a feeling of love, 2-phenylethylamine (PEA) is synthesized in the human brain. This substance is often called the “love substance.” As can be seen from the formula, this is a fairly “simple” compound, but what emotions it evokes!

Emotional uplift, excitement, sympathy, sexuality, energy boost. However, this substance is easily destroyed in the body by the enzyme monoamine oxygenase. It is believed that 2-phenylethylamine is synthesized in the body during the initial period of the emergence of feelings of love.

2-Phenylethylamine (PEA)

Chocolate contains the “substance of love” (approximately 600 mg per 100 g). Endorphins (“hormones of joy”).

According to some scientists, endorphins are responsible for the development of subsequent love, i.e. they are “the molecules of long-term love relationships.” It is known that endorphins act on opiate receptors, i.e. have a morphine-like effect. By chemical nature they are peptides. Endorphins cause analgesia (pain relief), euphoria (which is why they are called “happy hormones” or “natural drugs”), and affect memory and the ability to learn.

Among endorphins, the most active is b-endorphin, consisting of 31 amino acid residues:

Endorphins are produced in the pituitary gland.

Oxytocin. Oxytocin is a peptide hormone. It is formed by nine amino acid residues, i.e. is a nonapeptide. The structure of oxytocin was established in 1953 by V. Du Vigneault. Oxytocin is synthesized in the hypothalamus. It causes contraction of smooth muscles (including the muscles of the uterus, which is used in gynecology and obstetrics), as well as the flow of milk. There is a hypothesis that oxytocin causes a feeling of fidelity. It has been established that in women, oxytocin is involved in the feeling of orgasm.

Oxytocin

Nitric oxide(II). When there is a sexual stimulus, men get an erection. Naturally, here too it is impossible to do without the almighty chemistry. In response to a sexual stimulus, nitric oxide (II) is released from the nerve endings and endothelial cells of the corpora cavernosa. It stimulates guanylate cyclase(GC) – an enzyme that catalyzes cyclization guanosine triphosphate(G TP) in cycloguanosine monophosphate(cGMP). An increase in cGMP levels causes a cellular redistribution of Ca 2+ ions, which in turn leads to relaxation of the smooth muscles of the cavernous bodies and increases blood flow in the penis. An erection occurs. The well-known drug Viagra (Genagra, Novagra), prescribed for erectile dysfunction, can prevent the conversion of cGMP to guanosine monophosphate

(GMP), which is controlled by an enzyme

phosphodiesterase type 5

(PDE 5). This is achieved by selective inhibition of the PDE 5 enzyme:

Pharmacodynamics diagram of Viagra (sildenafil citrate) Sildenafil

IN

Iagra is a citrate (citric acid) of sildenafil. Sildenafil is 1-pyrimidin-5-yl)phenylsulfoyl]-4-methylpiperazine.

Nitric oxide (II) NO is obtained by oxidation of the amino acid arginine according to the following scheme:

Maybe, like in a movie about robots, in the human program (in the genetic code) there is a section responsible for identifying one’s other half. As soon as the other half appears, a hormonal boom begins. This is roughly the picture that is painted in the minds of many people.

Where does this “chemistry” come from?

Appears in a person's life someone. His projection (figure) is reflected in the human psychic field (in the most important evolutionary acquisition of Homo sapiens). That is, when we see an object, we recognize it and thereby fit it into a certain comparative series. What is this? This is a chair. So you can sit on it. And this? Dog. Dangerous? No. So you can pet it. That's about it. Seeing a person, we also call him something, determine who he is, and either immediately forget after communication, sending his “case” to the archive until the next contact, or we become attached with our thoughts to him. Sometimes for a long time, after he has disappeared from our sight. In our psychic field his figure is relevant and it is growing, feeding on our attention. The greater the flow of attention, the greater the growth of the figure.

You probably recognized this as a hook. The hook is something that does not allow one to forget a figure when a person has already stopped contacting you in reality.

When the figure grew up and took an important place in the field, it was it causes "chemistry".
Then there is a feedback connection between the “chemistry” and the figure, but it is the figure that is primary. Psyche.

Sometimes the growth of the figure occurs quickly, rapidly. I’ll tell you separately in what cases and why. Sometimes your figure grows quite quickly, and you don’t notice it at all. It seems to you that you think about a person rarely and critically, but in fact his figure is constantly present in your field and is growing. This is explainable from a scientific point of view and is not even parapsychology, it is just psychology, which I am telling you about.

So, when the figure has grown up (and in a poor energy field, where there are few other significant figures, few supports, holes in resources, and most importantly there is no strong figure of the Self, this sometimes happens quickly and spontaneously), “chemistry” begins, that is hormonal storm, which sometimes sweeps a person off his feet.
A person gets the most powerful sensations from the work of the adrenal glands. Cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine. All the same hormones are produced when a person encounters an unexpected danger. His heart beats, he is overcome with excitement, his body becomes toned. But since a person does not see a specific danger for himself, he feels dissonance and a slight trance (trance always occurs in response to mental dissonance), that is, mild euphoria and a slightly altered state of consciousness.

Do you understand why danger hormones are produced? A new powerful figure appeared in the field, and if it grew gradually, the storm of hormones does not sweep one off one’s feet, the person adapted gradually, and if love arose unexpectedly, the person can be tossed and tossed from its own "chemistry".

But such a person is usually in no hurry to freeze off, devaluing his figure (sometimes he can’t, and sometimes he feels that he could, but doesn’t want to). He doesn’t see any real danger, and the cocktail of hormones raises the body’s energy tone (sexual, emotional, and physical). That is, a person feels stronger, more cheerful, the colors are brighter, and his breathing is fuller. Energy is life, you remember. And so his energy increases.

By the way, if you want to stabilize your condition a little, remember that cortisol decreases with a large dose vitamin C. 1 g of soluble vitamin C and you will feel better. The energy will not go anywhere, but the veins will stop shaking, and everything in your eyes will not float.
Also norepinephrine perfectly promotes fat burning, since energy is extracted from all bins. This is the valuable effect of falling in love.

It shakes the lover from such chemistry. Then again dopamine connects, the motivation hormone (the meaning of life appears) then endorphin(high), which always comes after adrenaline, then oxytocin(a feeling of closeness and kinship, recognition of “one’s own”, literally “by smell”), and other interesting hormones. It’s even difficult to differentiate them; they work together. That's all love chemistry- this is the body's reaction to grown FIGURE in your psychic field.

People have a complex, very developed psyche, over which we have almost no conscious control (but little by little we strive), so most of the mental processes occur unconsciously (but we try to realize, name and classify in order to cognize and analyze), but it, the psyche, IS and she is very talented, she is capable of very, very much.

This is such a huge plant with the finest equipment, the director of which is always either drunk or wandering somewhere (our consciousness), but sometimes he suddenly breaks down and gives orders, most of them contradictory and strange. The director needs to come to his senses and start studying his enterprise in order to manage it more or less wisely and respectfully. Here "chemistry" is the products of the plant. And our mind is the director. Let's not forget that a head is still a head, right? published

The phrase “chemistry of love” is used colloquially to refer to the mysterious and miraculous reaction that occurs between two lovers. And science defines the chemistry of the most beautiful feeling as a set of chemical processes occurring in the human body and brain. Science has been able to sort out the mystery of love “on the shelves” and pour it “into the cones.”

But is love really just a complex chemical reaction?

Love is like a chemical reaction

Love is a mystery that people have been solving since ancient times. It is sung by poets and writers, depicted in paintings by artists, and played by actors on the theater stage. Love itself is an art and creativity.

Love in psychology is a moral and ethical feeling, defined as a deep intimate attachment to another person. The variety of types of love, the stages of its development, functions and meaning in human life have been sufficiently studied and continue to be studied by psychologists. For psychology, feeling is primary, although it is caused by chemical processes occurring in the human body.

After research conducted by American and English scientists at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it was proven that the set of sensations and emotions, which is designated as love, arises from the fact that the individual’s body produces certain chemicals.

Anthropologist Helen Fisher made a significant contribution to understanding the chemistry of love. She proposed dividing the chemical process of love into three stages:

Lust is actually sexual desire.
Falling in love is a romantic stage, the emergence of sensual love.
Attachment is a feeling of belonging, dependence on an alliance with a permanent partner.

A person experiences many positive feelings, emotional uplift, euphoria, optimism when in love. These feelings are chemically determined, they are the chemistry of love.

Love chemistry is produced in the human body and this process cannot be controlled by consciousness. People who lack love replace it with something that creates a similar chemical reaction in the body. For example, chocolate. It contains serotonin - the hormone of joy, without which there can be no love.

Love Formula

What chemicals are included in the “cocktail” of love? What processes in the body determine the desire to be close to another person in soul and body?

The formula of love includes the following chemicals:

Sex hormones. Estrogen in women and testosterone in men are sex hormones responsible for a person’s readiness to procreate.

Under the influence of testosterone, a boy turns into a man: body hair increases, shoulders become wide, the timbre of his voice is low, and his behavior is decisive and courageous. A man develops sexual interest in a woman and becomes sexually aroused.

Under the influence of estrogen, the female body matures. The figure becomes feminine, rounded shapes and smooth curves of the body appear. The gait, movements, voice and behavior become more feminine.

Pheromones. These are volatile signaling molecules. From the ancient Greek language, “pheromone” is translated as “carrying excitement.”

Female pheromones, released through the skin, are unconsciously perceived by a man through his sense of smell. Consciously, he evaluates the smell of a woman as pleasant and exciting. Male pheromones are also felt by a woman.

Pheromones not only excite, but also allow you to assess the health and immunity of a person of the opposite sex. Smell is an indicator of the functioning of the immune system. The more different a man’s immunity is from a woman’s, the greater the chance of their children being born healthy and surviving.

Neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline. Neurotransmitters are biologically active chemicals that transmit electrical nerve impulses.

Dopamine is responsible for feelings of happiness, pleasure, bliss; adrenaline excites, excites, tones and stimulates the heart; serotonin gives rise to euphoria and...

Endorphins. These are chemical compounds that have a morphine-like effect, the “opiate” of love. Just like real opium, endorphins can reduce physical pain and promote feelings of peace, security and well-being. Endorphins are released during physical contact (touching, hugging, kissing) and during sex.
The hormone oxytocin. This is the hormone of tender affection and unconditional love, it holds relationships together.

Oxytocin is released during orgasm, which creates a strong bond between people who enjoy sex. This hormone is also released in a woman’s body during childbirth and ensures the mother’s unconditional acceptance of the newborn child.

Hormone vasopressin. This is the hormone of monogamy. The more of it in an individual’s body, the more attached he is to his permanent partner. When vasopressin is present it is quite easy to remain faithful and devoted.

However, the more vasopressin, which causes tender affection, the less dopamine and adrenaline, which stimulate passion.

At the first stage of a relationship, when sexual desire arises, the main role is played by sex hormones and pheromones, which give rise to sympathy and passion. At the second stage of falling in love, neurotransmitters and endorphins are especially powerful, giving rise to feelings of happiness and joy of love. When love reaches the attachment stage, vasopressin and oxytocin dominate, and lovers become truly intimate.

Alchemy of love

Love is a chemical reaction of the body designed to ensure the continuation of the human race. Everything that happens between a man and a woman in love is a means of achieving the goal of nature - the emergence of a new person.

The magic of the chemical reaction of love lasts approximately eighteen months to three years. And this same time is enough for a man and a woman to meet, fall in love with each other and give birth to offspring. This is the basis for the hypothesis that love lasts three years and the theory about.

There is another point of view. Not love, but does not last long, after which feelings either fade away, not being supported by the “drugs” of love, or, time-tested, become stronger and more durable. The “volcano” of chemical reactions subsides, and intense love develops into calm love.

Not all relationships end after three years. Not all couples have children in the first years of marriage. People are capable of loving each other even after sexual attractiveness is lost, passion subsides and reproductive function decreases. Maybe love is not just chemistry, but also magic?

Without understanding the complexities of the chemistry of love, you can become an alchemist and “conjure”, “bewitch”, make your soulmate fall in love with you again and again, work on...

For a long time, this mysterious and unearthly feeling has controlled people. History knows examples when crimes were committed and wars were started because of it. However, first of all, this feeling has not a destructive, but a creative effect: it can inspire and inspire a person, giving him a feeling of happiness and extraordinary joy. We are talking, of course, about love. Read about her and her influence in our article today.

What is love? Opinions of scientists from different times

The complexity and diversity of love has given rise to a significant number of interpretations of this phenomenon in various societies and cultures throughout the history of human civilization.

For the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles, love was one of the two principles of the universe: the beginning of universal unity and integrity (integration), the metaphysical law of gravity and centripetal motion.

Love, in the understanding of another scientist who lived in Ancient Greece, Plato, is the demonic (connecting the earthly world with the divine) desire of a finite being for the perfect fullness of being - beauty. In his treatise “The Feast” he introduces a formulation about the connection between love and knowledge. Thus, for him, love is a process of continuous movement, and Platonic eros is the eros of knowledge.

Aristotle believed that: “To love means to wish someone what you consider good, for his [that is, this other person’s] sake, and not for his own sake, and to try to the best of his ability to provide him with these benefits.” For him, the main goal of love was friendship, not sensual attraction.

A completely different meaning was put into the concept of “love” by Sufi philosophers and writers of Persia and the Arab East during the Middle Ages. For example, in the poetry of Omar Khayyam and Alisher Navoi, love is identified with wine: “Wine poured into a vessel, i.e. into the mortal human shell, fills people with a spiritual component, dialectically introducing the concept of love for God.”

Let us note that in the Middle Ages, such a feeling as love was the subject of religious mysticism, on the one hand, and on the other, a special type of poetry dedicated to the cult of women and idealized sexual love.

During the Renaissance, through the works of Marsilio Ficino, Francesco Cattani, Giordano Bruno and others, the movement of Neoplatonism began to develop. At the heart of this love philosophy is the doctrine of beauty. This concept links ethics and aesthetics and has a huge influence on the art of the Renaissance.

Love is pleasure accompanied by the idea of ​​an external cause.

This definition was given by the Dutch rationalist philosopher Benedict Spinoza in the Baroque era. The scientist identifies love with absolute knowledge and argues that philosophizing is nothing other than loving God.

In the new philosophy, one cannot fail to note the theory of the German thinker Schopenhauer (“Metaphysics of Sexual Love”). The scientist explains passion by the fact that “the life will strives not only to perpetuate the species (as in animals), but also to produce the most perfect specimens of the species; Thus, if this man passionately loves this particular woman (and vice versa), then it means that he can produce the best offspring with her under the given conditions.”

In the 20th century The relationship between love and sexuality formed the basis of the work of the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, love is an irrational concept from which the spiritual principle is excluded. Love in the theory of sublimation, developed by the scientist, is identified with primitive sexuality, which is one of the main incentives for human development.

Subsequently, attempts were made to develop Freud's theory and move from a purely biological description to social and cultural components. This new direction originated in the USA and was called neo-Freudianism. Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm is considered one of its leaders.

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This love is so different

Above we talked about how scientists from different times understood this complex feeling - love. She, beautiful and insidious, is studied in the modern world. Canadian sociologist John Alan Lee once divided love according to the types of relationships between men and women. This is what happened.

- Erotic love. This feeling is based on the sexual attraction of partners to each other. Most often, this type appears in outbreaks and cannot last long. However, there are cases where erotic attraction lasted for years.

- The game is characterized by pretense of feelings. Relationships here are more like an exciting game than love.

- Gradualism. Most likely, this is one of the more durable types, since it is based on such a feeling as friendship. A long friendship develops into affection, and an attraction arises that can last for years. But there is a catch here too - too little passion.

- Love-mania. People are controlled by a feeling of passion; they do not notice anything around them except the object towards which this feeling is directed. However, the mania quickly passes and the relationship collapses.

- Pragmatic feelings. In such a relationship, the partner clearly knows what he wants. This attraction can last for many years.

- Ideal love is a long-term relationship that is based on trust, selflessness, and tolerance. These are the ideal feelings that many are looking for.

Love phases

American anthropologist, researcher of human behavior and author of self-improvement methods Helen Fisher dug even deeper. She identified phases of love, and, according to her, their growth directly depends on the processes occurring in the human brain. By the way, to prove this, Fisher scanned the brains of dozens of people.

1. Attraction phase. It is formed under the influence of pheromones, the production of which is activated by the limbic system of the brain, which is responsible for pleasure. To these are added male or female sex hormones (testosterone or estrogens), as well as a non-hormonal substance - nitric oxide. This “cocktail” causes attraction to the object of passion.

2. Phase of infatuation or passionate love. In this case, the person either “soars on wings” if the feelings are mutual, or suffers greatly. During this period, feelings are fueled by dopamine, adrenaline and norepinephrine, phenylethylamine, and serotonin.

3. Attachment phase. It can no longer be called infatuation, but love. Each partner is happy to be with his beloved. Lovers enjoy the moment and are not afraid of separation. Oxytocin, endorphins and vasopressin are responsible for this.

4. Breakup phase. It occurs due to a breakup or the death of one of the lovers. Here the level of serotonin and endorphins is greatly reduced.

In each phase, at least one hormone was mentioned that is responsible for emotions and feelings. Let us take a closer look at which of these molecules form love.

Hormones are to blame

The main hormone responsible for love is dopamine. It is produced in the adrenal glands and is a precursor to such well-known hormones as adrenaline and norepinephrine. Its main effect is to maintain a sufficient level of blood pressure. But when a person unconsciously senses the “smell” of pheromones from a person of the opposite sex, the amount of dopamine increases sharply. With unrequited love, the concentration of this hormone goes through two phases. During the first phase, it forms a feeling of falling in love; during the second, sharply decreasing, it causes severe depression.

Testosterone is a male sex hormone that is also produced in small quantities in women. His responsibilities include muscle development, features of subcutaneous fat deposition, proper functioning and formation of male genital organs. What does this have to do with love?

This hormone also affects a man’s interest and sexual attraction to a woman, and if little of it is produced (starting from adolescence), then such a man, unfortunately, will not have much desire to meet the opposite sex and start a relationship with him.

Now let's talk about female hormones - estrogens, which are released in the first phase of love. They are responsible for the formation of the body according to the female type, participate in the menstrual cycle, control the functioning of the heart and the strength of bones. When a woman sees a man she likes, her estrogen levels increase.

Pheromones are hormone-like substances synthesized in the sweat glands of a person of any gender. It is they who make you pay attention to a potential lover (a similar analogy can be drawn with animals, they also attract the opposite sex with their smell).

Pheromones work very simply: when a person who is actively searching for a soul mate sees a suitable “object,” adrenaline and testosterone are released into his blood. Beneath the skin, testosterone is converted to androsterone, which in turn is excreted in sweat and is absorbed by bacteria living on the skin.

Note that each person has a different set of bacteria, therefore the smell of the pheromone is different.

This smell, as a rule, is not realized by the person himself; it is picked up by a special area located in the nose - the vomeronasal plexus. And he begins to analyze whether the “chemical code” of the pheromone of the person he likes is suitable or not. If yes, then the release of sex hormones, dopamine and nitric oxide is triggered. If the “code” of one does not match the other, there will be no passionate attraction. There can only be trusting relationships, which over time can develop into love.

Serotonin is produced in the brain, and its release into the blood causes positive emotions (for example, a feeling of satisfaction during orgasm). If there is not enough of it, a person feels restless, anxious, becomes depressed and may even develop obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The production of serotonin is inhibited by excess dopamine, which is why at the very beginning of a relationship many people are so nervous: they experience mood swings, but at the same time they tend to think about the object of their passion, thereby fueling it. In turn, with an increase in the amount of serotonin, sexual interest decreases and sensitivity to love stimuli is lost. This is typical for the separation phase.

Oxytocin as a love hormone appears at the stage of long-term relationships, when the first love has already passed. He is responsible for building trust between lovers; increases in the blood of both women and men. In the stronger sex, oxytocin suppresses the desire to cheat; in women, this hormone is responsible for the feeling of orgasm.

Love is, first of all, spiritual intimacy between people, which arises under the influence of hormones on certain areas of the brain. Everyone feels love in their own way: it makes some people happy, others, on the contrary, makes them suffer; someone claims that when a person is in love, his heart contracts more often, someone feels lightness in the diaphragm or, conversely, a spasm. And maybe because all these feelings are different, even today it is so difficult to give a clear concept of love and fully understand this wonderful feeling?

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