What is love? Is love sex? Is love that butterfly feelings in someone’s belly when they get nervous, or is it simply applying a Band-Aid? Without a clear definition, who can begin to understand it? According to Dr. Seuss “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” (Source) So what causes “love at first sight?” Humans as well as other animals are inherently hardwired for instant attraction.
Love at first sight is a basic mammalian response that developed in other animals and our ancestors inherited it in order to speed up the mating process. 75% of Americans believe that there is such a thing as one …show more content…
A study found that the medial prefrontal cortex, a region in the brain that plays a role in romantic decision making, makes snap judgments about physical attraction and whether the person is likely to be a compatible match all within milliseconds of seeing a new face. In an fMRI Meta-analysis study by a Professor from Syracuse University, Stephanie Ortigue found that twelve areas in the brain work together to release euphoria educing chemicals like Dopamine, Oxgtocin, Adrenaline, and Vasopressin. Theses culminate in what is reported as a feeling of love and it can happen as early as 0.2 Seconds of visual contact. That love struck feeling also affects cognitive functions like mental representation, metaphors, and body image. A colligation of events like music, location, attractiveness, and being found attractive; all induce a symphony of the heart that suddenly skips into a ritardando that stops time, then fast-forwards into a louder and quicker beat. As far as love at first sight goes it could just be a trick of the brain or more specifically memory. When you think back to when you first met your current partner you may recall this feeling of love and euphoria but you may be projecting your current feelings back to your original encounter with this person which is all to say that love at first sight is in the eye and memory of the beholder. In another research seventy-eight women and seventy-three men were recruited for a speed dating event. Before the event, thirty-nine candidates had their brains scanned and recorded with an fMRI while viewing photos of people that they would soon meet. For each photo shown participants had a few seconds to rate how much they would like to go on a date with that person and they also reported their physical attraction to the potential dates and how likeable they thought each person was. After the event all participants completed forms indicating whom they’d like
Love at first sight is a basic mammalian response that developed in other animals and our ancestors inherited it in order to speed up the mating process. 75% of Americans believe that there is such a thing as one …show more content…
A study found that the medial prefrontal cortex, a region in the brain that plays a role in romantic decision making, makes snap judgments about physical attraction and whether the person is likely to be a compatible match all within milliseconds of seeing a new face. In an fMRI Meta-analysis study by a Professor from Syracuse University, Stephanie Ortigue found that twelve areas in the brain work together to release euphoria educing chemicals like Dopamine, Oxgtocin, Adrenaline, and Vasopressin. Theses culminate in what is reported as a feeling of love and it can happen as early as 0.2 Seconds of visual contact. That love struck feeling also affects cognitive functions like mental representation, metaphors, and body image. A colligation of events like music, location, attractiveness, and being found attractive; all induce a symphony of the heart that suddenly skips into a ritardando that stops time, then fast-forwards into a louder and quicker beat. As far as love at first sight goes it could just be a trick of the brain or more specifically memory. When you think back to when you first met your current partner you may recall this feeling of love and euphoria but you may be projecting your current feelings back to your original encounter with this person which is all to say that love at first sight is in the eye and memory of the beholder. In another research seventy-eight women and seventy-three men were recruited for a speed dating event. Before the event, thirty-nine candidates had their brains scanned and recorded with an fMRI while viewing photos of people that they would soon meet. For each photo shown participants had a few seconds to rate how much they would like to go on a date with that person and they also reported their physical attraction to the potential dates and how likeable they thought each person was. After the event all participants completed forms indicating whom they’d like