Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a brief look at some of the many chemicals involved in the feeling of love. For more on neurotransmitters in general, there’s also this post. Download link for this graphic below, along with links to some extra reading on the topic!
Note: This is an updated version of a graphic originally published in 2016.
The graphic in this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. See the site’s content usage guidelines.
References & Further Reading
- This is your brain on love – M Popova, Brain Pickings
- The Science of Love – BBC Science
- The Chemistry of Love – ACS Reactions
- Romantic Love: An fMRI study of a neural mechanism for mate choice – H Fisher & others
- What happens to your brain when you fall in love? – Mental Floss
8 Comments
misterken
is oxytocin also part of the mix?
Compound Interest
See answer to the other comment here on the post 🙂
misterken
thank you!
Todd
This is a great graphic….but you should have included Oxytocin,,,,the LOVE hormone….let me know when you update this!!
Compound Interest
Hi Todd, there’s a reason oxytocin is left out here; the three chemicals shown are those primarily involved in attraction. As I’m sure you’re probably already aware, oxytocin is more involved in attachment.
I do plan a more comprehensive post on the chemistry of love, which *will* include oxytocin. This was just a quick one for Valentine’s Day, and as it says, it just highlights “some of the many chemicals involved”. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time this week to put together a more comprehensive graphic, but there’s always next year!
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