“When love comes, mind goes away”
One of the most important issues throughout human history has undoubtedly been: “Love”. The effects of love on the human brain are quite remarkable. During the passionate love period, the hormone that enlarges the nerve cells is secreted 2-3 times more than normal.
All important works are created during the passionate love period
When you look at the world, every aesthetic production you see; Dopamine underlies the production of a good architecture, a good painting, a good music, a good poem, a good movie... Everything that is passionate. Dopamine is a neurochemical substance that grounds novelty seeking, creativity and pleasure.
It has been shown that during the period of passionate love, the human brain is almost swimming in dopamine. That's why all important love poems and all important music are always written during the period of infatuation.
Love rejuvenates the brain
Another known thing is that during the period of passionate love, a hormone that we call 'neuron growth factor', which grows nerve cells, is released from the brain. It decreases as we get older. It has been observed that this neuron growth factor increases 2-3 times the normal level in the blood of people measured during the love period.
“What does this provide? It is a hormone that allows nerve cells to survive longer, the connections between nerve cells to become more frequent over time, and rejuvenation. When you place nerve cells in an artificial environment and give them this hormone, their structure becomes even younger. The same happens in the brain. In other words, love rejuvenates the brain.
Love reduces pain sensitivity
Morphine-like during the infatuation period. The release of substances in the brain increases. Therefore, sensitivity to pain decreases. This goes for this thing too. When a person is very happy, the feeling of pain in his body decreases. But for example, patients with depression feel a lot of pain. His head hurts, his neck hurts, his back hurts, his waist hurts... Therefore, the feeling of pain decreases during the period of intoxicated love.
How long does love last?
Love despite everything, Again, when it comes unexpectedly, it is an emotion that should be welcomed positively. But it should always be considered that there will be a certain period of time and a downturn.
There is no such thing as ultimate and permanent love. These periods of infatuation have been shown to last from 8 to 16-18 months at most, according to blood chemistry and psychological tests. In very exceptional cases, there are those who experience passionate love for 20 years, but of course these are very extraordinary people.
Love can be visualized with functional MRI!
Prof. Dr. Tarlacı said the following about visualizing love in the brain:
Until the 1700s, people thought that the heart was the center that governed humans. After the 1700s, it was understood that the main center that governs humans is the brain. In the modern era, the use of functional MRI in many areas since 2003 has aroused curiosity among some brain scientists. 'We see which part of the brain is working while swallowing, reading a book, or watching a movie. "I wonder which part of a person's brain works when he looks at the person he loves?" asked Egyptian Scientist Semir Zeki. After being asked this question, they surprisingly found that certain parts of the brain glow brightly when people in love look at their loved ones, and this is consistent. So, there is one pattern when one is in love, and another pattern when the other is in love. There's a similar pattern in the glowing areas of the brain during that whole infatuation period. There may be a test like this; 'Does my lover really love me passionately?'. It will probably take us an hour and a half to figure this out.
Love slows down the brain's decision-making mechanism
All human behavior has a cerebral counterpart. While many parts of the brain shine during the infatuation period, the frontal part of the brain works less or its functioning weakens. This is a very remarkable thing.
What is the consequence of this? Normally, our frontal brain area allows us to create social norms and rules. It enables us to gain respect from others and to look at the whole and evaluate our situation. The same brain region allows you to signal long before turning right or left in traffic. This region is It also comes into play in decision-making processes. The fact that this region works less during the infatuation period causes the decisions taken during that period to be unhealthy and problematic. Therefore, in that intense, passionate period, you know, they say later, 'How did I do this, how did I decide like this, how did I pursue him?'... There are regrets in love after a while... Or 'He asked me for this, how did I give it to him'... When the infatuation ends, the mind is restored. You know, 'Love comes and mind goes', that's what people say. In fact, this has a neuroscientific equivalent. In the period of truly infatuation, when love comes, the mind can go away.
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