6. Brain in love (by image)

7. Brain in love (by image) The fact that the raphe nucleus region of our brain literally rewards us with a shot of the lovely calming hormone, serotonin, may be news. Hormones produced by the ventral pallidum relate to attachment and reduced stress, a feel good, all is well part of the love bonding. The VTA, ( ventral tegmental) works like a banana split for a job well done - a reward system in the brain, making dopamine and sending it to different areas of the brain http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/35559-valentine-s-day-the-science-of-romance

8. Brain in love (by image) Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chemical_basis_of_love.png

9. Brain in Love (by image) The chemicals that race around in our brain when we're in love serve several purposes, and the primary goal is the continuation of our species. Those chemicals are what make us want to form families and have children. Once we have children, those chemicals change to encourage us to stay together to raise those children. So in a sense, love really is a chemical addiction that occurs to keep us reproducing. http://nwprthomblog.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

10. Brain in love (by image) These brain scans show that maternal and romantic love share similar activated and deactivated areas in the brain. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2010/02/

11. Brain in love (by image) Activation of the brain’s ventral tegmental area in longterm partners suggests that romantic love can persist. (Brain image courtesy of Stony Brook State University of New York and Albert Einstein College of Medicine) http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14410

12. Brain in love (by image) A new study suggests that an area of the brain known as the caudate is associated with passion. The caudate gathers and processes information from different circuitries while in love. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/health/psychology/31love.html