Romantic Love- one of the most powerful brain systems responsible for great joy and immense sorrow

"Romantic love is an addiction: a perfectly wonderful addiction when it’s going well, and a perfectly horrible addiction when it’s going poorly.”  Helen Fisher


Anthropologist Helen Fisher studies loves effect on the brain. 
She placed 15 people who were madly in love and had just been dumped in an MRI machine.
When shown the picture of their loved one 3 areas of the brain lit up:
*the ventral tegmental area, near the base of the brain, part of the reptilian brain associated with wanting and craving
This area contains dopaminergic neurons and therefore makes up part of our reward system.
This area also becomes active from cocaine use.
Activity in this area is seen in intense romantic love and becomes more active when you can't get what you want.
*the core of the nucleus accumbens, associated with calculations of gains and losses.
This area becomes active when you're willing to take a risk for huge gains or huge losses.
*areas associated with deep attachment to another individual.


Romantic love is one of the most addictive substances on earth.
The three main characteristics of addiction are: 
tolerance- you need to see the person more and more
withdrawal
relapse


Romantic love also encompasses an intense craving to be around the other person, 
motivation, and obsession- how often you're thinking about that person.
Helen believes romantic love is not an emotion but rather a drive, since it originates 
from the area of the brain associated with wanting and craving.


She also acknowledges that women and men experience intimacy differently.
Women tend to get intimacy from face-to-face talking, with an "anchoring gaze."
Men, on the other hand, gain intimacy from side-by-side doing.