Love.  What a powerful four-letter word.  Since the dawn of time, humans have tried to explain it, express it, write it, draw it, sculpt it, and study it.  Scientists have been trying to determine what it is.  And the difference between loving your mom, loving chocolate, and loving your husband or wife.

American anthropologist Helen Fisher has become an expert in the field of love.  She has done many studies trying to understand love’s effect on the brain.  Fisher and her team have come to determine that when you are in love, the ventra tegmental area (VTA) becomes active.  This part of the brain is associated with wanting, motivation, focus, and craving.

Oddly enough, it is the same part of the brain that becomes active when a person gets high from an addictive drug.  However, Fisher says love is much worse than drugs because there is no coming down.  Love consumes you.  Fisher’s team also found that the cerebral cortex – the part of the brain associated with judgment and reasoning – becomes deactivated when you are in love.  It is no wonder “love is blind” is a common saying.

What draws people together is still being studied, but it is safe to say the mysteries of love will never be fully uncovered.  Knowing the facts does nothing to dampen the actual experience of love.