Often described as a caused by a chemical addiction in the brain, love always seems to leave us in the sense of the grandiose feeling we get with a new love in our lives. Like a match that is struck; At first there is a great intensity as the additional fuel accelerates the fire to burn the remaining wood. Then as it burns the remaining pieces of the match the fire slowly tapers off and then leaves the charred carbon remains.

Chemically, love is caused by several hormones and proteins in the brain, oxytocin, estrogen, testosterone, one of those tonins (mela, or sara), and of course the release of endorphins for a bit of pleasure. But once oxytocin mixes with those chemicals - bonds are made between two people. Depending on the amount of chemicals released usually depends on the strength of the bond.

Of course that’s the highly technical reasoning for why people are attracted to someone, fall in love and then 2-3 months later realize that they no longer have those stong feelings and abandon the person for someone else in order to regain those same fuzzy feelings of new found love. So yes, Love is fleeting, and moreover its very similar to a crack addiction.

And in particular - there is someone I keep up with that writes periodically on her blog about her exploits and the new “boy” that she has met, and she always ends up falling in love with them, and then surprised when just as quickly as it starts, its over. This is a perfect example of how love is fleeting, and not only that about what causes attraction vs what does not.

So the question remains do we as humans, abandon the constant cycle of addiction to new found love for settling with someone because we know that its something that is supposed to happen within nature? And is the rising trend of divorce caused by people abandoning tradition and going back out in search of this elusive romantic notion that one day you’ll find someone that fills you with that “like new” feeling for the end of your days? In truth, how many people find that happiness
?

I’ve actually talked about this in the past that they’ve discovered the protiens that cause the “love” to actually happen. Here is some more research via the Register.

Romantic love quickly dies
Brain chemicals - not amoré - linked to passion
By John Leyden
Published Monday 28th November 2005 16:23 GMT

Romantic love normally lasts only a year, according to Italian boffins, whose findings would have Casanova spinning in his grave.

Scientists at the University of Pavia reckon that a brain chemical linked to feelings of euphoria - rather than amoré - in responsible for setting new lovers’ hearts a flutter. Scientists looked at levels of proteins known as neurotrophins in the blood of men and women aged 18 to 31.

The sample included people in both long and short relationships as well as singletons. The researchers found that those starting a relationship experienced increased levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) proteins, which causes sweaty palms and the butterflies, the BBC reports. Boffins found levels of these psychotropic proteins - which they linked to feelings of euphoria and dependence between partners - receded over time as relationships become more established.
Loved up

Levels of the NGF protein in the 39 people (out of 58) still in the same new relationship after a year had reduced to base-line levels. Report co-author Piergluigi Politi said the study suggests that “acute love” fades over time. Looking for deeper feelings beyond the first flush of love was outside the scope of the research.

Politi said the study suggested a link between NGF and feelings of romantic love. “Our current knowledge of the neurobiology of romantic love remains scanty. But it seems from this study biochemical mechanisms could be involved in the mood changes that occur from the early stage of love to when the relationship becomes more established,” he said.

Finding of the research have been published in the Psychoneuroendocrinology journal. The Pavia team are careful to stress the need the further research. However the general thrust of their findings has received support from scientists in other disciplines.

“Research has suggested that romantic love fades after a few years and becomes companionate love and it seems certain biological factors play a role,” Dr Lance Workman, head of psychology at Bath Spa University, told the BBC. ®

Interestingly the post I made before I entitled the same thing… check it out here.

Ever wonder why men fall asleep and women want to cuddle after sex? Well if you haven’t been up with the times, research science has found the answer. Its three main chemicals: Vasopressin, Oxytocin and Serotonin. The research has come up with some interesting facts including why women want to cuddle.

When a couple has sex, the brain releases Vasopressin, Oxytocin and Serotonin. Serotonin, has a calming and relaxing effect, and mixing like a drug coctail with testosterone becomes like a sleeping pill for men, but with women who have low levels of testosterone, but higher levels of estrogen, it becomes the bonding pill, or the cuddle time. This effect is what causes women to form lasting bonds with men and in a sense causes them to become more faithful the more they get this coctail. In a sense addicted to it.

Other approaches are also shedding light on the question. In 2000, Andreas Bartels and Semir Zeki of University College, London, located the areas of the brain activated by romantic love. They took students who said they were madly in love, put them into a brain scanner, and looked at their patterns of brain activity.

The results were surprising. For a start, a relatively small area of the human brain is active in love, compared with that involved in, say, ordinary friendship. �It is fascinating to reflect�, the pair conclude, �that the face that launched a thousand ships should have done so through such a limited expanse of cortex.� The second surprise was that the brain areas active in love are different from the areas activated in other emotional states, such as fear and anger. Parts of the brain that are love-bitten include the one responsible for gut feelings, and the ones which generate the euphoria induced by drugs such as cocaine. So the brains of people deeply in love do not look like those of people experiencing strong emotions, but instead like those of people snorting coke. Love, in other words, uses the neural mechanisms that are activated during the process of addiction. �We are literally addicted to love,� Dr Young observes. Like the prairie voles.

Basically the Love emotion is like cocaine- which makes sense in a way, because if it wasnt so addictive - why would humans do it? Why would mother nature not make a way for us to find a way to continue life?

If you are interested in reading more - check it out here.