The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Victor Hugo 
Syracuse University Professor Stephanie Ortigue has studied the effect of love on the brain.(1) Her study shows that when a person falls in love, 12 areas of the brain work together to release chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopression – combining to produce a feeling of euphoria.
The study also shows that love is a complex process and – as we might have guessed – different types of love engage different parts of the brain. For example, unconditional love, such as that between a mother and a child causes activity in different parts of the brain to passionate love between two adults.
In spite of the differences though, the process of love always follows the same pattern – it works on the brain to enhance positive emotions (e.g.bonding/pleasure/reward ) and to suppress negative emotions, such as criticism and alienation.
So, love isn’t just the stuff of romantic fantasy. Love is real and not only is it important to us as individuals but also to our progress as societies.
But you already knew that, didn’t you…
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- http://www.science20.com/news_articles/neuroimaging_love_romance_more_scientific_you_think
- http://www.vislab.ucl.ac.uk/pdf/motherlove.pdf
(1) Citation: Stephanie Ortigue, Francesco Bianchi-Demicheli, Nisa Patel, Chris Frum and James W. Lewis, ‘Neuroimaging of Love: fMRI Meta-Analysis Evidence toward New Perspectives in Sexual Medicine’, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, DOI: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01999.x
* meta-analysis means that they used a statistical method which combined a number of studies for greater accuracy.
wooowww!!! That picture is haunting.. :-).. great post.. 😀
Glad you like it – thanks for dropping by!
Great post, Trisha! I never had children and some may wonder if it affected my capability to love in that soul completing kind of way that a mother loves a child. I can tell you that I have loved dogs like children. Not just my dogs, but I have fallen in love with friend’s dogs, too.
If I can do that, the world should be able to find ways to love other “people”, besides their own specific flavor and breed. One only has to slow down long enough to really “see” beyond the color of their skin or the way they talk, or in some cases…. how much they shed. 🙂
Have a great weekend!
Glad you enjoyed the post. I don’t think having children or not has much to do with the capacity to love. I have children – and I love them dearly – but I consider it more of a bonus for me in life rather than something that has made me more capable than others who don’t have children. Loving your own children is – by and large – easy. It is instinctive and adaptive and the way Mother Nature has invented to keep the human race going! Animals love and will protect and die for their babies – doing stuff for your kids feels like doing stuff for yourself a lot of the time – loving people who aren’t your children can be a good bit harder! That kind of loving requires a connection to a higher nature as it is more self-sacrificing – some of the most incredibly loving people I know never had any children and I wonder if it hasn’t been a factor in their development. Thanks, Beth.
This sepia photo of the Eskimo mother and baby is most informative and touching! Thank you. Your research and your post remind me of Henry Nouwen’s book THE BELOVED, wherein he tells us of so many ways of life with the Creator tell us: YOU are the beloved! And all of God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”
Sounds interesting. Thanks.
Fear holds us back . . . love propels us forward. All we need is LOVE. 😀
Da-da-da-da!
The bible says perfect love casts out all fear and the Course in Miracles says there is only love or a call for love. There are so many in the world crying out for unconditional love that can only be found by reconnecting with the source of God within. I am the Beloved’s and the Beloved is mine. I have found the one my soul loves! Thank you for adding to the love in the world! http://www.newheavenonearth.wordpress.com
You are welcome – glad you enjoyed it!
Love is what sustains our planet… With all the hatred and evil that exists on planet earth, I’ve always believed that the goodwill, grace, and love of many people on earth outpaces all of that stuff and sustains us. I still believe that. Great post. 🙂
Even in a material sense, if you want to dissipate the darkness – use light.