Robbie Wagoner

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1103-048
31 March 2016
Annotated Bibliography 4
Loyola University Health System. "What falling in love does to your heart and brain."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 February 2014.

<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140206155244.htm>.

Summary:
What falling in love does to your heart and brain, is a magazine article published on
February 6, 2014, retrieved from ScienceDaily and authored by the Loyola University Health
System. ScienceDaily is an American news website that focuses on a wide range of scientific
topics. While the website is not the most credible source, its contents seem to be created by
credible university researchers. In this case, the Loyola University Health System is a completely
reliable source because it backed the findings of Pat Mumby, a leading researcher in Chicago.

The article begins by explaining how the brain is the source of the many emotions that
are shown by the body when in love. According to Pat Mumby, who has a PhD in the
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences at Loyola University Chicago Stritch
School of Medicine, when a person falls in love this sparks a massive amount of feel-good
emotions to emerge from the body. These emotions are the reason for symptoms such as flushed
cheeks, tachycardia and sweaty palms. Chemicals that are produced by the brain are also affected
by love. Dopamine, norepinephrine and adrenaline levels are increased significantly. Dopamine
is in charge of making the brain more happy, while norepinephrine and adrenaline cause the heart
to beat more rapidly. MRI scans have been conducted in order to prove that the pleasure areas
of the brain illuminate and are involved when an individual is in love. Due to an excess of blood
flow in these areas cause an illumination to occur on an MRI scan. According to Mary Lynn, the
co-director of the Loyola Sexual Wellness Clinic and assistant professor of the Department of
Obstetrics & Gynecology, the parts of the brain that are involved when falling in love are the
same parts that are highly active in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder patients. This piece of
information can explain why when you first fall in love, you are obsessed with your significant
other. Both OCD and falling in love lower serotonin levels in the brain, which monitor and
stabilize moods. Dr. Mumby continues in the article by explaining the term love is blind. She
explains how this term is relevant when falling in love because a person will not find any flaws
in their significant other during the beginning of the relationship. Our brains block out any type
of imperfection that may be present due to the overwhelming happy chemicals that are present.
When falling in love there are three stages that occur. The first is lust. Lust is a hormone-derived
stage when the brain experiences an overwhelming feeling of want for their partner. The second
is attraction. During the attraction phase the brain will experience a surplus amount of blood flow

in the pleasure centers of the brain, which will result in a feeling of infatuation with their
partner. The third stage is attachment. In the attachment phase the behaviors that are present in
the attraction phase begin to dwindle. The brain starts to become immune to the pleasure
stimulus. This phase creates a feeling of health and protection from their partner due to a vast
amount of chemicals like endorphins and the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin that enter the
brain. These three stages are the key in assisting a person to decide if the relationship they are in
will be a long standing one.

Quotes:
Falling in love causes our body to release a flood of feel-good chemicals that
trigger specific physical reactions.
The phrase 'love is blind' is a valid notion because we tend to idealize our partner
and see only things that we want to see in the early stages of the relationship.
There are three phases of love, which include lust, attraction and attachment.

Analysis:
Following the article I developed new knowledge of the topic. I realized that the brain
produces many feel-good emotions known as endorphins and hormone, such as adrenaline,
when love is initially sparked between two people. Based on prior knowledge, I know that
adrenaline is involved in the fight or flight response which could explain why we want to
fight through love because the feeling is so strong. One question that rose was when the article
spoke of how love is related to OCD. Could this explain why many individuals who are in love
be so obsessed with their partner and desire to know every detail about them? Also, another
question that rose was when the article spoke about love is blind. Could this explain why

couples are on their best behavior during a relationship, in order to insure their lover only sees
good things?