Love, Joy, and our Brains

Created By Joanna Hendrickson

• The limbic system consists of a donut shape structure that is wrapped around the brain stem in the middle of the brain.

• This is the main part of the brain that deals with emotional matters

Limbic System

• The first circuits the brain constructs are the ones that process emotion. These are laid down before birth.

Emotional Development• Early emotional

experiences form the layout for how later emotional experiences are organized.

Emotional Development Cont…

• Around 2 months the despair and contentment that infants feel develops into different, more complex emotions.

• As experiences are repeated, they become more ingrained in a child’s emotional development.

Attachment in Children• Children are pre-

programed to fall in love with their caregivers. A loving response from their caregiver results in secure attachment.

• Children need to have a nurturing relationship with the SAME caregivers in order to keep that emotional security.

• Children need to feel loved and emotionally secure

The Power of Love

The emotion of love activates parts of the brain such as the: Caudate nucleus,

Putamen, and the Insula Anterior cingulate and

cerebellum Hippocampus in both

hemispheres

• Love also deactivates parts of the brain such as:• The amygdala which

plays an important role in the response to fear and terror.

• Areas that are linked to depression, anxiety, and sadness.

Chemicals and RomanceName Description

Estrogen, testosterone Responsible for sexual drive

Dopamine The brain releases this chemical as a “reward” system. Responsible for feelings of bliss

Norepinephrine Responsible for racing heart and flushed skin

Serotonin Lower levels may contribute to feeling of obsession with another person.

Oxytocin A hormone that helps build trust and form social bonds

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) Activated by romantic love in both sexes and orgasm in men

Phenylethylamine (PEA) Releases dopamine into the limbic system causing happiness

Sex Pheromones Chemical messages passed between males and females to encourage mating

Hormones and neurotransmitters involved with how the body acts when we fall in love

Types of Love

Attraction• A sexually loaded form

of communication for the body to determine candidacy for reproduction.

• Helps assist in mating between couple that would produce health offspring.

Types of Love Cont…Lust

• The need to reproduce through intercourse• The hypothalamus stimulates the creation

and release of testosterone in males and estrogen in females creating our sexual drive

Types of Love Cont…Attachment

• Couples bond over the “high” feeling of early love due to heightened levels Phenylethylamine (PEA) which can last up to three years.

• After a period of time the brain becomes accustom to the higher levels of PEA and couples tend to settle into a period of calm confidence also know as attachment.

What is Happiness?

• Joyful or happy states are often associated with calmness, clarity of thought, warmth, relaxation, and ease in deciding how to act.

• What bring happiness varies from person to person

Happiness in the Brain

• Some of the regions in the brain responsible for happiness are the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and septum.

• These “pleasure” regions of the brain release neurotransmitters, endorphins, and dopamine that result in the feelings we know as happiness and joy.

Fun Facts• Phenylethylamine (PEA), which occurs naturally in the brain

stimulating happiness, can also be found in chocolate.• Levels of testosterone in women increase when they are in

love but decreases in men.• Most changes in the tissues of the brain are in implicit

(emotions, body sensations, relationship paradigms, and our sense of the world) memory.

• Falling in love appears to reduce serotonin levels in the blood in a similar way to obsessive-compulsive disorders

• MRI scans have shown that love lights up parts of the brain linked to the reward system that can cause drug addiction

Bibliography• Angier, N. (2009, Feb 17). In pain and joy of envy, the brain may play a role. New York Times,

pp. D.2-D.2. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/434041678?accountid=1172

• Dobson, R. (2010, October 04). The independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/love-on-the-brain-2096672.html

• Gross, M. (2006). Rsc: Advancing the chemical sciences. Retrieved from http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2006/February/CupidChemistry.asp

• Hanson, Rick. "Seven Facts about the Brain That Incline the Mind to Joy." Wise Brain. N.p., 2007. Web. 11 Aug. 2012. <http://www.rickhanson.net/wp-content/files/7FactsforJoy.pdf>.

• Fisher, H. (2004). Why we love: The nature and chemistry of romantic love. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

• Neely Tucker - Washington Post,Staff Writer. (2007, Feb 13). An affair of the head; they say love is all about brain chemistry. will you be dopamine? The Washington Post, pp. C.1-C.1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/410189568?accountid=1172

• Sweeney, M. S. (2009). Brain, the complete mind : How it develops, how it works, and how to keep it sharp. (Medical ed.). Natl Geographic Society.