Love and Hormones

Written By Buddy! Magazine
Emily Kwak.jpeg

Emily Kwak (ISB G10)

Everyone knows what love is, and we all assume that we know what falling in love entails. However, do we truly know the chemicals in our body that allows us to feel that way?

Join Emily as she delves into how the feelings we call love can be explained through hormonal sciences and how love really works.

(Courtesy of Sayingimages)

(Courtesy of Sayingimages)

If you have a crush on someone, it’s time to be courageous; if you love someone, it’s time to express your love! However, what is love? How do you define love? Why would people suffer from love, agonizing for a long time? Although it is hard to define love in one way, love can be defined in science. Hormones will be released when you love someone.

Science defines “romantic love“ into three categories: lust, attraction, and attachment. Each stage works with various chemicals. Lust is mainly driven by the desire for sexual pleasure, producing testosterone and estrogen. Attraction involves the brain pathways that control “reward” behavior, which explains why the first few weeks or months of a relationship can be so exhilarating and even all-consuming. Dopamine and norepinephrine will be released during attraction. However, during the attraction, serotonin may be reduced. The attachment will be for the long-term relationship mainly releasing oxytocin and vasopressin.

“Serotonin is the key hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness.”

Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. They work slowly, over time, and affect many different processes, including growth and development, metabolism - how your body gets energy from the foods you eat, sexual function, reproduction, and mood. Endocrine glands, which are special groups of cells, make hormones. The major endocrine glands are the pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal, and pancreas. In addition, men produce hormones in their testes and women produce them in their ovaries. Hormones are powerful. It takes only a tiny amount to cause big changes in cells or even your whole body. For instance, hormones affect women's periods, especially for PMS (premenstrual syndrome). The level of estrogen, serotonin, and progesterone changes, and this change is closely related to the PMS. Laboratory tests can measure the hormone levels in your blood, urine, or saliva. Your health care provider may perform these tests if you have symptoms of a hormone disorder. Home pregnancy tests are similar - they test for pregnancy hormones in your urine.

To understand more deeply, we need to understand what each hormone does.

Testosterone is the major sex hormone in males and plays a number of important roles during puberty, such as the development of the penis and testes, the deepening of the voice, the appearance of facial and pubic hair starting; later in life, it may play a role in balding, muscle size and strength, bone growth and strength, sex drive (libido), and sperm production. Women also has testosterone; it is produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. It is one of several androgens (male sex hormones) in females. The proper balance between testosterone (along with other androgens) and estrogen is important for the ovaries to work normally.

Estrogen is one of two main sex hormones that women have. (The other one is progesterone.) Estrogen is responsible for female physical features and reproduction. Men have estrogen, too, but in smaller amounts. Estrogen helps bring about the physical changes that turn a girl into a woman. This time of life is called puberty. These changes include growth of the breasts, Growth of pubic and underarm hair, and the start of menstrual cycles.

“Oxytocin is a hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, a pea-sized structure at the base of the brain. It's sometimes known as the "cuddle hormone" or the "love hormone," because it is released when people snuggle up or bond socially.”

Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter that your body makes, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That's why it's sometimes called a chemical messenger. Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It's a big part of our uniquely human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting. Your body spreads it along four major pathways in the brain. Like most other systems in the body, you don’t notice it (or maybe even know about it) until there’s a problem. Too much or too little of it can lead to a vast range of health issues. Some are serious, like Parkinson’s disease. Others are much less dire.

Norepinephrine also called noradrenaline is both a hormone, produced by the adrenal glands and a neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger that transmits signals across nerve endings in the body. Norepinephrine is produced in the inner part of the adrenal glands, also called the adrenal medulla. Adrenal glands are making primarily adrenaline and most of the norepinephrine in the blood comes from nerve endings. It plays a role in your mood and ability to concentrate. The adrenal medulla also makes adrenaline (also known as epinephrine). Norepinephrine, adrenaline, and dopamine belong to a part of the catecholamine family. Together with adrenaline, norepinephrine increases heart rate and blood pumping from the heart. It also increases blood pressure and helps break down fat and increases blood sugar levels to provide more energy to the body. Moreover, norepinephrine plays a role in the sleep-wake cycle, helping you to wake up, increasing attention and focusing on performing a task, and in-memory storage. It is also important for emotions. Problems with norepinephrine levels are associated with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse.

“Oxytocin can also intensify memories of bonding gone bad. For example, when people break up, they often feel hurt because the memories are intensified and result in a negative way.”

Serotonin is the key hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness. This hormone impacts your entire body. It enables brain cells and other nervous system cells to communicate with each other. Serotonin also helps with sleeping, eating, and digestion. It also helps reduce depression, regulates anxiety, and maintain bone health. However, if the brain has too little serotonin, it may lead to depression. If the brain has too much serotonin, it can lead to excessive nerve cell activity. Mental illnesses can occur with eating disorders, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and so on.

Oxytocin is a hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, a pea-sized structure at the base of the brain. It's sometimes known as the "cuddle hormone" or the "love hormone," because it is released when people snuggle up or bond socially. Even playing with your dog can cause an oxytocin surge, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior. But these monikers may be misleading. Oxytocin can also intensify memories of bonding gone bad. For example, when people break up, they often feel hurt because the memories are intensified and result in a negative way. It can also make people less accepting of people they see as outsiders. In other words, whether oxytocin makes you feel cuddly or suspicious of others depends on the environment.

Eventually, these hormones work during the stage of love: Testosterone and estrogen drive lust; dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin create attraction; and oxytocin mediates attachment. Love and hormones have a deep correlation. Since you have briefly informed, you have a better understanding of how might love work. Happy Valentine’s day and good luck!

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