It’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. Since I’ve been waiting 21 years for my knight in shining amour/ Versace suit to find me, I had a bit of time to do a ChickLitMD exclusive investigation of the chemistry of love…
Romantic love is that fuzzy feeling you can’t explain. We all search for it, and like crystal meth, once you have experienced it, your life is never the same. If you think love comes from your heart, you are probably a hopeless romantic and definitely a hopeless biologist. Scientists believe that love is a drive, like thirst or hunger, that results from a variety of different chemical interactions in your brain. For example, when you like someone, its easy to feel jittery inside. You get so weak in the knees, you can hardly speak, and you loose all control like something’s taking over you because your brain is signaling your adrenal gland to produce norepinephrine, the hormone that makes your heart race and fills you with excitement.
As we all know, compatibility is an important component of love. Because we each vary in chemical composition, we each have different personality types, and tend to be attracted to individuals with complimentary natures. Rutger University’s Helen Fisher is a biological anthropologist, love-researcher, and consultant for match.com and chemistry.com. According to the Boston Globe, Fisher believes that ” certain personality types correspond to the preponderance and ratios of specific chemicals in the body; her team is now examining blood, urine, and saliva samples to test her theory.”
- Oxytocin: the hormone that makes you want to cuddle
- Vassopressin: the hormone that facilitates long-term attachment ( Jake Sully & Naytiri mated4lyfe <3 )
- Dopamine: the pleasure chemical that makes you feel blissful and euphoric
- Serotonin: the hormone that makes you think/obsess about your boo morning, evening and night, all day, everyday.
- Estrogen/ Testosterone: hormones that play a role in sex drive, i.e. hormone keys to the ignition.
As a consultant for these dating websites, Fisher makes her compatibility recommendations based on the chemistry of love. She studied the personality traits and dating trends of nearly 30,000 people, and based on her research she was was able to define four personality types: Builders, Negotiators. Explorers and Directors. As reported by the Boston Globe:
Creative, risk-taking personalities, which she calls “explorers,” may have more active dopamine systems, as well as more activity of another brain chemical, norepinephrine, she says. She found that “explorers” are drawn to other “explorers.” People she calls “builders,” conventional, calm, conscientious folks, may have more active serotonin and may also be drawn to other “builders.” By contrast, Hillary Clinton types – “directors” – who are analytical and tough-minded, may be high in testosterone and regularly drawn to their opposites, the “negotiators” like Bill Clinton, who may be fueled by estrogen and oxytocin, Fisher says.
According to chemistry.com I’m a builder/ negotiator just like Jennifer Aniston and George Washington. I’m not quite sure if I should be happy or sad about that considering Brad Pitt precipitated out of Jen’s life and George Washington nearly died in one of the biggest break ups in history…
In any case if you are my soul mate and/or would like to buy me nice things, please contact me asap.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Image by MahPadila
Monday, February 15th, 2010, 2:01 am | 
&Giggles, Love, Medical Research | 
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