How Love Changes Your Body Chemistry

Addicted to love
Dopamine is the brain's pleasure chemical. It plays a role in gambling, drug use, and, well, love. When we fall in love, dopamine is released, making couples feel elated and energetic about each other.

"That someone takes on special meaning to you and you focus on this individual because the dopamine system has been activated," says Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist. "It is what triggers very goal oriented behavior, where no one else matters but your new partner."

Dopamine can be present in both early-stage and long-term romantic love, she says.

'O' is for oxytocin
Oxytocin is a chemical that calms and bonds couples together by promoting intimacy. "It is what hugging, kissing and touching are made of," says Fisher, a visiting research associate at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/11/15/how-love-changes-your-body-chemistry/#ixzz2CaZsZUda