Falling in love is all about your brain chemicals, neurologists say. It's also about your genetics since the amount of brain chemicals you release is controlled by the information in your DNA. So if you're happy right now with your sweetie pie, it might all change after two years, according to studies.
But don't panic about the impending doom of your current relationship. Neurologists also have formulated a theory on how to keep the love alive. They believe that this love business has nothing to do with your heart, but everything to do with your brain.
A California-based neurologist who wrote about his findings on love in his book "True Love", Dr. Fred Nour argues that long-lasting love is a multilayered process and that falling out of love is a normal part of it. He stresses the role of chemical processes that occur in the brain as individuals fall in and out of love. He theorizes that falling out of love is just a normal part of the “true love” process, and that brain chemicals play key roles in it.
“People are conditioned to believe that romance is true love, and that’s not true. It’s just a phase,” he said in a recent interview. He lambastes Hollywood's idea of love where the lead characters stay in love no matter what. In real life, falling out of love is expected as love chemicals, monoamines and nonapeptides fluctuate with time, the Dallas News reports.
The book, released Tuesday, just in time for Valentine’s Day, focuses on these two love chemicals with monoamines released in high amounts during the initial romance stage. They give people a feeling of euphoria and excitement during this stage of the relationship, so you feel the butterflies and the soaring high when you kiss your lover. But evidence suggests those levels drop again after about two years, the Review Journal reports.
Nonapeptides, meanwhile, aid “true love” by enhancing feelings of bonding, monogamy and idealization of one’s partner. These chemicals are strengthened by laughter and intimacy, Nour tells readers. So work more on releasing those brain chemicals, nonapeptides, to have a longer-lasting romantic relationship.
