---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <seerdope@...> wrote :
Love may be an emotion, an attribute of Being, a dominant quality in higher states, etc, but it also has a neurological and brain chemical basis (see below article as a starting point). I wonder a lot about this, including: To what extent does manifest love in higher states,particularly GC, living and ecstatic bhakti, devotion, etc depend upon these physical bases of love? If a researcher were to dramatically lower serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, oxytocin and other key love-related chemicals (and/or modify receptors and activation potentials) in (validated) subjects experiencing sustained high/intense love, how would the love experience change? What role does meditation, yoga (including breath work) play in creating sustained and balanced levels of these brain chemicals (and related changes to receptors, activation potentials, etc)? Given many roads towards the enhanced levels of these chemicals (receptors, activation potentials, etc.) can these other modalities augment or even replace (or be a detriment to) traditional yogic / meditation practices and states? SSRS talks extensively on this: "Love makes your practice fresh and new. It is love which nourishes, pushes forward your technique, your progress, your growth." quoted from : God Loves Fun Also see Narada Bhakti Sutra: The Aphorisms of Love. I have 3 versions; from Simple to Profound. (following article is provided as a starting point, not definitive) Source: Wiki Biological basis of love - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love Biological basis of love - Wikipedia, the free encyclo... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love The theory of a biological basis of love has been explored by such biological sciences as evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology and... View on en.wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love Preview by Yahoo Studies in neuroscience http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience have involved chemicals that are present in the brain and might be involved when people experience love. These chemicals include: nerve growth factor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_growth_factor,[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-8 testosterone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone, estrogen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrogen, dopamine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine, norepinephrine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norepinephrine, serotonin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin, oxytocin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin, andvasopressin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasopressin.[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-9 Adequate brain levels of testosterone seem important for both human male and female sexual behavior.[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-10 Dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are more commonly found during the attraction phase of a relationship.[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-11 Oxytocin and vasopressin seemed to be more closely linked to long term bonding and relationships characterized by strong attachments. … Serotonin Chemically, the serotonin effects of being infatuated have a similar chemical appearance to obsessive-compulsive disorder, which could explain why people experiencing infatuation cannot think of anyone else.[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-13 For this reason some, such as anthropologist Helen Fisher, assert that taking SSRIs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor and other antidepressants impede one's ability to fall in love. In one particular case Fisher noted: I know of one couple on the edge of divorce. The wife was on an antidepressant. Then she went off it, started having orgasms once more, felt the renewal of sexual attraction for her husband, and they're now in love all over again.[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-14 Oxytocin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chemical_basis_of_love.png Simplified overview of the chemical basis of love. Main article: Oxytocin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin The long-term attachment felt after the initial "in love" passionate phase of the relationship ends is related to oxytocin, a chemical released after orgasm.[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-15 Moreover, novelty triggers attraction. Even exercising for several minutes can make one more attracted to other people on account of increased heart rate and other physiological responses. Nerve growth factor In 2005, Italian scientists at Pavia University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavia_University found that a protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_growth_factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these return to previous levels after one year. Specifically, four neurotrophin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotrophin levels (NGF, BDNF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDNF, NT-3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NT-3, and NT-4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NT-4) of 58 subjects who had recently fallen in love were compared with levels in two control groups who were either single or already engaged in a long-term relationship. The results showed that NGF levels were significantly higher in the subjects in love than as compared to either of the control groups.[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-16 Cortisol Individuals who have recently fallen in love show higher levels of cortisol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol.[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-MarazzitiCanale2004-17 To explore whether this correlation was merely due to general changes in life associated with beginning a relationship, Loving et al. performed an experimental study in which women who had recently fallen in love were randomly asked to think about their partners and relationship or about a romantically neutral male friend. The authors found that the romance-related thoughts triggered an acute increase in cortisol compared with thoughts about the friend. The cortisol effect was more pronounced for those women who spent more time thinking about their relationship. NGF tends to activate thehypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which can increase cortisol, so Loving et al. speculate that the cortisol increase may be a byproduct of NGF increase when falling in love, but this needs to be confirmed.[18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-LovingEtAl2009-18 m m It must be recognized that alone, these findings on neurochemistry are overly simplistic for a neuroscientific understanding of love with substantive validity. Cortisol and other steroids are infused in massive doses and do not evoke feelings of love. Similarly dopamine serotonin, oxytocin and other putative love neurochemicals have all been infused intravenously in doses reaching high concentrations and none have been described as evoking love. There is much greater complexity here than neuroscientists like to admit. Excusing the use of a term not yet operationalized, vast domains of the true "magic" of love remains to be discovered by future neuroscience. Role of the limbic system In A General Theory of Love, three professors of psychiatry from UCSF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCSF provide an overview of the scientific theories and findings relating to the role of the limbic system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system in love, attachment and social bonding. They advance the hypothesis that our nervous systems are not self-contained, but rather demonstrably attuned to those around us and those with whom we are most close. This empathy, which they call limbic resonance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_resonance, is a capacity which we share, along with the anatomical characteristics of the limbic areas of the brain, with all other mammals.[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-19 Their work builds on previous studies of the importance of physical contact and affection in social and cognitive development, such as the experiments conducted by Harry Harlow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow on rhesus monkeys, which first established the biological consequences of isolation. Brain imaging Brain scanning techniques such as Functional magnetic resonance imaging have been used to investigate brain regions that seem to be involved in producing the human experience of love.[20] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-20 In 2000, a study led by Semir Zeki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semir_Zeki and Andreas Bartels of University College London concluded that at least two areas of the brain become more active when in love. These were foci in the media insula, which the brain associates with instinct http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct, and part of the anterior cingulate cortex, which is associated with feelings of euphoria.[21] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-21 Ortigue et al. found that an unconscious prime of the name of a romantic partner activated similar brain regions as when subjects were consciously aware of seeing partners' faces.[22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-OrtigueEtAl2007-22 Subliminal priming with either a beloved's name or a favorite hobby activated emotion and motivational brain regions: caudate nucleus, insula, bilateral fusiform regions, parahippocampal gyrus, right angular gyrus, occipital cortex, and cerebellum. However, the love prime evoked more activation in bilateral angular gyri and bilateral fusiform regions than the hobby prime. These regions are associated with integrating abstract representations, and the angular gyrus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_gyrus in particular is involved with abstract representations of the self. The authors also found a correlation (r=0.496, p=0.002) between activation of a region of the angular gyrus with a passionate-love scale measuring subjective feelings of love.[22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-OrtigueEtAl2007-22 Love and motivation Conscious thoughts about a romantic partner activate brain regions related to reward and motivation. Ortigue et al. investigated whetherunconscious priming by a partner's name could also affect motivation. They found that priming by either a beloved or a favorite hobby improved reaction times in identifying whether a string of letters was a word or not compared against priming by a neutral friend. The authors suggest this effect happens because a beloved's name "may call for a goal-directed state" and produce "dopaminergic-driven facilitation effects." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_love#cite_note-OrtigueEtAl2007-22
