Helen Fisher Why We Love Analysis

Before the earliest human ancestors learned to harness fire and even after the technological boom of the twenty-first century, love is an ever present emotion that accelerates the drive to reproduce. Love is the basis for budding relationships, whether they be familial, friendly, or romantic. Scientists, philosophers, authors, and even college students have tried to get to the core of what love is, how it is experienced, and whether it is biologically present or able to fluctuate or change. Through Plato’s Symposium, The Romance of Tristan and Isolt, Helen Fisher’s novel Why We Love, and various other publications, I believe that the feelings invoked by love have remained constant, but the means to which they are brought out have changed as time progresses. Love is an emotion that Love is an emotion that draws from varied levels of brain chemicals, such as dopamine and serotonin, and is the reason people have such strong emotions towards their beloved. In Helen Fisher’s novel, Why We Love, Fisher researched and conducted studies on how the brain would react when in love. Fisher found that dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels fluctuate according to how passionate the love is from the lover to the beloved. Fisher states,
Elevated levels of dopamine in the brain produce extremely focused attention, as well as …show more content…
Being in a romantic relationship can make one daydream, obsess, and devote their time to the beloved. All three publications are from different time periods, yet all three publications describe similar symptoms of a romantic relationship. This shows how the symptoms of love from a romantic relationship have withstood the test of time by remaining constant. The symptoms of love are due the the elevation in brain chemicals as stated in Fisher’s book. These reported symptoms have been published in publications that stem from ancient