Is falling in love a poetic fancy or is it nature’s way of perpetuating our species?
Is it illusory, as common sense would suggest, or is it a chain of biochemical events in the brain that is now visible as blips in brain scans?
Decoding the molecules: We know very little about why and how we fall in love. Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint
Cynics would say go fall in love and figure it out. Philosophers, swinging to extremes in their definition of love, from animal passion to the ultimate conqueror, at least agree on one point—it’s of paramount importance to mankind.
But scientists, known for their reductionism, would say let’s break it down to its components and see how molecules relate to mushy behaviour. In doing so, they are discovering, for the first time, that the complex human emotion we call love is a mesh of neural circuitry, hormones and genes. It turns out the chemistry between couples is due to the release of chemicals in the brain at different stages of romance—attraction, lust and attachment.
So, when Hasse Walum at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and his colleagues said in September that they had found an association between variations in a gene and human pair-bonding among men, it made a splash. People were quick to dub the gene, which modulates the production of the hormone vasopressin, an indicator of “husband material”.
Walum’s study on people who spent at least five years in heterosexual relationships showed how men with variations in this gene reported corresponding variations in the quality of the relationship. Those with one particular variant—let’s call it the “poor-bonding” gene—have twice the odds of being a bachelor or having a marital crisis than men who lack it. They also reported low scores on the Partner Bonding Scale, a standard psychological test, and their spouses confirmed dissatisfaction in their relationships.
Similar studies on women are on the anvil. Walum tells Lounge he has planned several studies for the spring and summer, which include investigating if variations in a gene that codes for oxytocin—a hormone known to influence female pair-bonding—are associated with how closely women bond with their partners.
Spray and cuddle
Walum’s forthcoming study will be closely watched since oxytocin, the so-called “love hormone” released in the brain during orgasm and childbirth, is already under test. Last year, Adam Guastella at the Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, ran a unique trial to test if sniffing oxytocin during counselling sessions could help incompatible couples resolve their differences.
A nasal spray for couples to let Cupid strike one more time?