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The limbic system is a group of interconnected structures located deep within the brain. It’s the part of the brain that’s responsible for behavioral and emotional responses.
Emotions are controlled by the levels of different chemicals in your brain, but there is no one “love” or “hate” chemical. At any given moment, dozens of chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, are active.
Estrogen acts everywhere in the body, including the parts of the brain that control emotion. Some of estrogen’s effects include: Increasing serotonin, and the number of serotonin receptors in the brain. Modifying the production and the effects of endorphins, the “feel-good” chemicals in the brain.
When you’re attracted to another person, your brain releases dopamine, your serotonin levels increase, and oxytocin is produced. This causes you to feel a surge of positive emotion.
The three neurotransmitters implicated in depression are: Dopamine. Norepinephrine. Serotonin.
This area of the brain helps us to distinguish our own emotional state from that of other people and is responsible for empathy and compassion. The supramarginal gyrus is a part of the cerebral cortex and is approximately located at the junction of the parietal, temporal and frontal lobe.
When it comes to the survival of intimate relationships, no matter how much love there is between you and your partner, there’s no guarantee that you both will be able to empathize—even if you think you’re “soulmates.” Without empathy, the love in your relationship will end up like “love” as in tennis—one big zero.
Oxytocin, in particular, promotes empathy, and when the chemical is inhibited in someone, they become more prone to sinful, or selfish, behavior, he said.
We now know that this is not true — emotions have as much to do with the heart and body as they do with the brain. Of the bodily organs, the heart plays a particularly important role in our emotional experience. The experience of an emotion results from the brain, heart and body acting in concert.
At the point of orgasm, the brain releases massive amounts of oxytocin and dopamine, said Brotto. Oxytocin or the “love hormone” is thought to promote feelings of connection and bonding with a partner after orgasm, and dopamine is a “feel-good” neurotransmitter connected to the reward centre of the brain, she said.
Dopamine and serotonin regulate similar bodily functions but produce different effects. Dopamine regulates mood and muscle movement and plays a vital role in the brain’s pleasure and reward systems. Serotonin helps regulate mood, sleep, and digestion.
For women and AFAB people, sexy texting also ignites the hormone oxytocin or “the cuddle hormone,” which brings feelings of closeness and connection. This combination of pleasure, and the hormone stimulation in your brain from sexting, can be super hot and make sexters feel totally amazing.
Higher levels of dopamine can lead to feelings of euphoria, bliss, and enhanced motivation and concentration. Therefore, exposure to substances and activities that increase dopamine can become addictive to some people.
The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain located at the front of the frontal lobe. It is implicated in a variety of complex behaviors, including planning, and greatly contributes to personality development.
Although loving two people can be confusing, for those who are open to “non-traditional” relationship dynamics like polyamory, it’s definitely possible to have loving relationships with multiple people simultaneously. … “You don’t necessarily love someone less because you also love someone else.
Alexithymia is a broad term to describe problems with feeling emotions. In fact, this Greek term used in Freudian psychodynamic theories loosely translates to “no words for emotion.” While the condition is not well-known, it’s estimated that 1 in 10 people has it.