Big Think The science of romantic love, explained an anthropologist | Helen Fisher
Oct 25, 2025
Dr. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and expert on the neuroscience of romantic love, delves into the universal nature of love. She explores how cultures across time exhibit similar mechanisms of pair-bonding and affection. Fisher reveals the brain systems behind attraction, discussing how romantic love can resemble addiction in terms of brain activity. She even connects animal behaviors to human romance and suggests treating rejection as an addiction. Prepare for a captivating blend of science and the timeless mystery of love!
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Love Is A Universal Evolutionary Drive
- Romantic love appears universally across cultures and history as a core human drive.
- Helen Fisher concludes humans evolved to form partnerships to rear offspring as a team.
Three Distinct Mating Brain Systems
- Fisher posits three evolved brain systems: sex drive, romantic love, and attachment.
- These systems served distinct evolutionary functions for mating and childrearing.
Chinese Love Poetry Proved A Point
- Fisher recounts a Chinese anthropologist who claimed the Chinese don't love, then discovered crying evidence to the contrary.
- She uses poetry as an artifact showing love's cross-cultural presence.