“This is Your Brain On Love” by Radiolab is a podcast I had found when I was an undergrad. I enjoyed this podcast a lot since it had a bit of humor, told the main points of the neurotransmitters that are released when in love, and just short and fun. I wanted to reflect a bit on the podcast and the information of the neurotransmitters on love. When I discovered this podcast it was in my cognitive neuroscience class when we were discussing the different neurotransmitters and what neurotransmitters affect what emotions. Each emotion releases different neurotransmitters and different parts of the brain. And why not talk about the emotion of love since it can be such a pleasant but chaotic emotion. When in love the three main neurotransmitters are:
-Dopamine
-Norepinephrine
-Oxytocin
These are the neurotransmitters that are involved with the emotion of love. During this podcast those 3 neurotransmitters are explained by Neely Tucker a writer for the Washington Post and Helen Fisher who had done a TedTalk based on her findings on love.
The brain in love | Helen Fisher
In Helen Fisher’s studies she placed couples who were in love in an MRI and measured the brain waves and what regions of the brain lit up on the scans. The regions of the brain that lit up when in love are the same regions that are affected when on cocaine. The main difference between the feelings of being on cocaine and the feeling of love is that you come down from that high of cocaine but when in love it is not so quick to come off of. The process of love starts with the rush of dopamine. Dopamine is making you feel good such as giddy, happy, etc. Second neurotransmitter norepinephrine is the neurotransmitter that helps out dopamine to continue that good feeling so basically the communicator. Dopamine and norepinephrine you can’t have the one without the other. The last neurotransmitter is oxytocin. Oxytocin is the neurotransmitter that is released when you commit yourself to someone. Oxytocin is released during sexual activity, when you orgasm. A very important neurotransmitter that provides that security and trust that someone feels.
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Dopamine and norepinephrine is what gives you that first rush as in oxytocin is what makes those feelings last. The emotion of love can be the best feeling or the absolute worst. Now maybe when you fall in love or start crushing you’ll think about what is going on and have that bit of knowledge of what is going on in your brain chemically.
https://radiolab.org/podcast/91744-this-is-your-brain-on-love