Wed, Apr 23, 2008
Mind Your Body, The Straits Times
The right chemistry
It is a familiar scenario: you walk into a room where he's in, palms sweaty and muscles tense. He smiles at you and your heart skips a beat. But when you try to respond to his greeting, your voice comes out unrecognisable, octaves higher than usual.
The giddiness of love is one of the most wonderful, mysterious things around. Poets, painters and singers have all tried to capture love's indescribable essence in their art.
But love is not all about sonnets and serenades. There's a science to pulse-racing romance and a physiology of the feeling that moved writer Ambrose Bierce to describe it as 'temporary insanity'.
Most romantic love starts in the loins. Ignoble and base as it may sound, the classic 'love at first sight' can more often than not be translated into 'lust at first sight'.
The hormone that regulates your sex drive, testosterone, is produced in the testes of men and the ovaries of women. It is present in much higher concentrations in males than in females, which may explain the infamy of the phrase 'not tonight, honey'.
Lust can be triggered by pheromones which are chemical messengers that affect the behaviour of other organisms.
LOVE BITE 1
According to BBC.com, as far as attraction goes, here's how you get the message: 55% is through body language 38% is the tone and speed of your voice Only 7% is through what you say
Dr Roger Ho from the department of psychological medicine at the National University Hospital said that pheromones play an important role in our sexual behaviour. For example, perfumes with musky scents can enhance one's attractiveness.
He also said that while the sense of smell is essential for the pheromone effect to occur, the smell of pheromones does not need to be consciously perceived to exert an influence.
Another major trigger of lust is sight. This may have an evolutionary basis, as visual cues can be an indicator of reproductive fitness, according to an article on BBC.com. For example, many sociological studies have shown that men are attracted to women who have small waists and larger hips, or an hourglass figure, as such women are likely to be more fertile than others.
However, compelling as these factors may be, no attraction is complete without what some call the biggest sex organ: the brain.
'Sociologists have demonstrated that we are attracted to people whose attitudes and opinions are similar to ours. We also tend to like people who give us rewards and dislike those who punish us,' said Dr Ho.
If everything works out from that first rush of attraction, the flames of love can easily be fanned from that initial spark into molten hot passion.
The relationship would then enter the 'honeymoon' period, where your lover can do no wrong, where the world revolves around just the both of you and when most bad love-poetry is written.
'Passionate love is a state of intense longing for union with the other person and of intense psychological arousal, which can cause high energy, euphoria, elation and even idealisation,' said Dr Ho.
This is due to a potent cocktail of chemicals, one of which is adrenaline - produced by the adrenal glands, which sits just above the kidneys.
Adrenaline causes increased oxygen intake and increased blood sugar to the muscles which creates the familiar 'fight-or-flight' syndrome.
'The frequent presence of a loved one can also trigger the production of a neurochemical called endorphins which produce a sense of calm and peace,' said Dr Ho.
Endorphins are a group of chemicals produced by the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland in the brain. As they travel through the bloodstream, endorphins act as natural painkillers and also create a sense of well-being.
LOVE BITE 2
Love causes serotonin levels in the brain to drop, causing obsessive behaviour, researchers at the University of London have found. It also increases production of cortisol, which can cause high blood pressure and loss of sleep.
If passionate love lasted forever, divorce would be a rarity. Unfortunately, the Singapore Department of Statistics reported a steady increase in divorce rates between 1986 and 2006.
So, as love evolves from a blazing hot fire to steady glowing embers, what keeps people together?
'A chemical called oxytocin contributes to long-term relationships, as it plays an important role in bonding,' said Dr Ho. 'In humans, it is stimulated by touch and produces feelings of pleasure and satisfaction.'
Oxytocin, synthesised in the hypothalamus (at the base of the brain), is also released by both sexes during orgasm and by women during childbirth.
Also, social commitments such as raising children and financial stability can be important factors in keeping couples together, even if passionate romance is no longer the order of the day.
This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times on Apr 23, 2008.
