The Science of Falling In Love

Although you may think that falling in love might involve a specific formula — step one is a great first date, step two is getting physical, and so on — that's not how it works.

"We tend to fall in love with people under circumstances," says Fisher. "We tend to fall in love with people from similar backgrounds, socioeconomic classes, Raipur Escort Service, those who have the same values, aspirations, looks, and even reproductive goals."

Of course, as Fisher explains, you can walk into a room and everyone in there can meet that general criterion and you won't fall in love with any of them, at first sight, or otherwise. That's because, at the end of the day, it's the personality of the person, in addition to what you have in common, that clicks. From there, your brain takes over. (Related: What It Means to Have Sexual Chemistry with Someone)

During Fisher's research using the brain scanner, when the participants were shown a photo of their lover, the ventral tegmental area of the brain lit up. This part of the brain "produces dopamine, a natural stimulant, and sends that dopamine to many other brain regions," she says.

In turn, that dopamine does what dopamine does best: It rewards your brain Escorts Service Raipur with feel-good thoughts and feelings. The released dopamine is behind the motivation to be near your loved one, the craving and obsessive thinking about them when they're not around, and, ultimately, that intense feeling that is associated with romantic love.

"What's interesting about this little brain factory [the ventral tegmental area] is that it lies near the base of the brain, way below the cortex where you do your thinking… it lies next to the factory that orchestrates thirst and hunger," says Fisher. Of course, thirst and hunger are basic drives that keep you alive, so the fact that romantic love resides in this same area of the brain suggests that romantic love, too, isn't conscious, but rather a basic drive that compels you to "seek a partner, fall madly in love, and send your DNA into tomorrow," she says.

So although love is commonly thought of as this fluffy, sentimental thing, it's a survival mechanism, says Fisher. "It's a drive; not an emotion. There are a lot of emotions that go along with this drive — jealousy, guilt, anxiety, memories, thoughts — but it's a basic mating drive that evolved millions of years ago to allow you to focus your mating energy on one person [to pass on DNA]."

If you've ever been in love, you likely know all too well the butterflies, the dry mouth, the pounding of the heart, even the excitement that borders on nervousness. While dopamine is triggering motivation, Call Girls in Raipur, craving, and the energy to stay up all night and talk to this person you're in love with well into the wee hours of the morning, norepinephrine — the main neurotransmitter associated with the sympathetic nervous system, aka your fight-or-flight response — is responsible for all those other bodily sensations, she says. Norepinephrine triggers increases in heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels (to provide more energy to the body), and also wakes you up, and increases attention, focus, and memory storage, according to the Endocrine Society. Not to mention, bursts of norepinephrine can lead to euphoric feelings as well as hyperactivity. So, no, you're not imagining it, your heart (really, your whole self) is all aflutter thanks to your brain.