Love

Biological basis of love

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See also: Biology and sexual orientation

The theory of a biological basis of love has been explored by such biological sciences as evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology and neuroscience. Specific chemical substances such as oxytocin are studied in the context of their roles in producing human experiences and behaviors that are associated with love.

Contents [hide]

1 Evolutionary psychology

2 Neurochemistry

2.1 Serotonin

2.2 Oxytocin

2.3 Nerve growth factor

3 Role of the limbic system

4 Brain imaging

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

[edit]Evolutionary psychology

Evolutionary psychology has proposed several explanations for love. Human infants and children are for a very long time dependent on parental help. Love have therefore been seen as mechanism to promote mutual parental support of children for an extended time period. Another is that sexually transmitted diseases may cause, among other effects, permanently reduced fertility, injury to the fetus, and increase risks during childbirth. This would favor exclusive long-term relationships reducing the risk of contracting a STD.[1]

From the perspective of evolutionary psychology the experiences and behaviors associated with love can be investigated in terms of how they have been shaped by human evolution.[2] For example, it has been suggested that human language has been selected during evolution as a type of "mating signal" that allows potential mates to judge reproductive fitness.[3] Miller described evolutionary psychology as a starting place for further research: "Cognitive neuroscience could try to localize courtship adaptations in the brain. Most importantly, we...