Your Brain On

Your Brain On... Love

Feb 14, 2024

Renowned author and evolutionary anthropologist Dr. Anna Machin discusses the neuroscience of love, including the role of neurotransmitters like dopamine and oxytocin. Cardiologist Columbus Batiste, MD, joins to talk about love's impact on the heart. Psychologist Dr. Arthur Aron explains the differences between passionate and companionate love.

43:19

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Episode guests

Anna Machin

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Falling in love releases neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine, triggering pleasure and motivation.

Maintaining long-term relationships requires communication, shared experiences, and mutual selflessness to keep passion alive.

Deep dives

The Neuroscience of Falling in Love

When falling in love, the brain releases neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine, leading to feelings of pleasure, reward, and motivation. The sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the fight or flight response, becomes activated in the early stages of love. Love evolves and changes over time, with stress hormones like cortisol decreasing and love becoming a buffer against stress. Hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin play a role in forming deep connections and promoting monogamous relationships. Genetic factors, including oxytocin receptor genes, can influence our ability to empathize and desire relationships. Love is a complex and universal phenomenon, influenced both by biology and culture.

Introduction

3min

The Neurochemistry of Love

23min

Exploring the Science of a Broken Heart and Love's Historical Association with the Heart

2min

Symbolism of Love: Heart vs. Brain and Broken Heart Syndrome

3min

The Neuroscience of Love and Heartbreak

9min

Nurturing a Deep Connection in Relationships

4min

Neurochemically, what is love? How can neuroscience help us maintain long-term relationships? Is heartbreak real?

In this episode, we discuss the neuroscience and psychology of:

• Why falling in love can feel so stressful

• How being infatuated activates the same neurotransmitters as having OCD

• What happens to your brain when exciting new romances settle into comfortable decades-long unions

We speak to Dr. Anna Machin, renowned author and evolutionary anthropologist at the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, England, and author of ‘Why We Love’, about oxytocin, dopamine, and lesser-discussed hormones like beta-endorphins, whether genetics can heighten our predisposition to desire relationships, and why love (in all forms, not just romantic) is a fundamental human need.

Cardiologist Columbus Batiste, MD joins us for a conversation around love’s impact on both the heart and the brain, and what the medical term for heartbreak has to do with octopi!

We speak with psychologist Dr. Arthur Aron, esteemed professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, best known for his work on intimacy in interpersonal relationships, and development of the self-expansion model of motivation in close relationships, about the differences between passionate and companionate love, and what his self-expansion model says about why we’re motivated to seek out relationships.

Dr. Richard S. Schwartz, MD, renowned psychiatrist, author and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and the Psychodynamic Couple and Family Institute of New England, discusses the neuroscience of distinguishing love from obsession. His work and research focuses on social connection and lasting marriage. With his wife, Jacqueline Olds, MD, he has co-authored three books on these subjects.

Plus: we share our own love story — meeting while working on healthcare systems in war-torn Afghanistan — and explore how love can be found in the midst of shared challenges.

‘Your Brain On’ is hosted by neuroscientists and public health advocates Ayesha and Dean Sherzai.

‘Your Brain On... Love’ • SEASON 1 • EPISODE 1

CONTEST

To celebrate the launch of our new podcast, ‘Your Brain On’, we’re giving away prizes to its earliest listeners — like you! Prizes include memberships to our thriving NEURO Academy community, and bundles, like our Better Brain Cooking Box, Books Bundle, and Better Brain Favorites Box.

To enter, all you’ll need to do is subscribe to Your Brain On, leave an honest review of the show on Apple Podcasts, and then sign up for the contest at thebraindocs.com/podcast.

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