Usually love finds its place in literature, an ideal romantics hold closely to their hearts. Studies, however, show that love belongs more in the logical world of science rather than the idealistic realm of romance. Darwinian evolution, neurotransmitters and autonomic functioning appear to provide the main basis for love, with its true root lying in the brain rather than the heart. While love varies in its intensity and form from the lust present in a one night stand to the tender warmth between a mother and child, romantic love exhibits a very specific set of traits across all couples. In the past, romantic love has been put in terms of heterosexual couples because homosexual couples were thought to be unnatural perversions, but recent evidence proves that homosexuality has a far more natural and biological basis than was previously thought, suggesting that homosexuals experience the same romantic love as heterosexuals.
[...] The lack of reproduction cited as proof of the maladaptive nature of homosexuality may actually cause its proliferation through many species of animals is nature and in human societies. Physiological differences in brain structure may also cause homosexuality. hypothalamus is located on either side of the brain's third ventricle and plays a key role in sex, diet, cardiovascular performance, control of body temperature, stress, emotional response, growth, and many other functions” (Stein 135). The hypothalamus and amygdale also contribute to sexual desire and arousal (Fisher 89-90). [...]
[...] 8269) Men and women process these pheromones differently, with men processing AND in the normal olfactory areas of the brain and EST in the anterior hypothalamus and women processing them in the opposite manner (8269). This sex-differentiated processing suggests that pheromones play a significant role in which sex a person prefers for romance. Neurotransmitters can also mean the difference between physical attraction from a distance and romantic attraction that turns into an actual relationship. Alberts tracks the neurotransmitters through her article Chemistry of Love. [...]
[...] Love spans differences in culture, age, and even sexual preference to become onte of the most universal human ideas. Even though studies have not been done to verify that the same brain activities take place within homosexuals and heterosexuals, homosexuals display the same symptoms of love and must undergo the same physiological changes. Homosexuality not only appears to be a natural occurrence, but also an adaptive one, strengthening same-sex bonds in the same way heterosexual relationships strengthen opposite-sex ones. Love's place lies in the head and not the heart not because it is a conscious desire, but because it is an unconscious autonomic process that causes two people to become addicted to one another. [...]
[...] These feelings encourage love once the novelty of a new relationship wears off and the individual becomes less sensitive to the raised dopamine levels, which takes place after 18 months to 3 years (Alberts C3). Many scientists now consider love a biological drive rather than a superfluous romantic attraction. A drive is neural state that energizes and directs behavior to acquire a particular biological need.” Love lasts for extended lengths of time, focuses on a specific reward, does not depend on a specific state of mind or physical expression, is difficult to curb and appease, involves elevated dopamine levels, and usually leads to sex, which fulfills the need to reproduce (Fisher 93). [...]
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