Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
This is the first stage of love and is driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen – in both men and women
When do you know if you fancy someone? What does love do to your brain chemicals, and is falling in love just nature's way to keep our species alive?
This is the amazing time when you are truly love-struck and can think of little else. Scientists think that three main neurotransmitters are involved in this stage; adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin.
Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in the States has proposed 3 stages of love – lust, attraction and attachment. Each stage might be driven by different hormones and chemicals
It’s not what you say...
Psychologists have shown it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you fancy someone.
Research has shown this has little to do with what is said, rather
55% is through body language
38% is the tone and speed of their voice
Only 7% is through what they say
the bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to have and raise children
Scientists think there might be two major hormones involved in this feeling of attachment;
Scientists think that three main neurotransmitters are involved in this stage;
And finally … how to fall in love
Vasopressin is another important hormone in the long-term commitment stage
Vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone) works with your kidneys to control thirst
Oxytocin is a powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm.
It probably deepens the feelings of attachment and makes couples feel much closer to one another after they have had sex. Oxytocin also seems to help cement the strong bond between mum and baby and is released during childbirth. It is also responsible for a mum’s breast automatically releasing milk at the mere sight or sound of her young baby.
The initial stages of falling for someone activates your stress response, increasing your blood levels of adrenalin and cortisol. This has the charming effect that when you unexpectedly bump into your new love, you start to sweat, your heart races and your mouth goes dry.
One of love's most important chemicals that may explain why when you’re falling in love, your new lover keeps popping into your thoughts.
This chemical stimulates ‘desire and reward’ by triggering an intense rush of pleasure. It has the same effect on the brain as taking cocaine!
Fisher suggests “couples often show the signs of surging dopamine: increased energy, less need for sleep or food, focused attention and exquisite delight in smallest details of this novel relationship” .