Researchers zero in on addictive brain chemistry of romance

WASHINGTON (AP) - Neuroscientists looking at love circuits in the brain suggest that romantic love works chemically in the brain like a drug addiction by triggering the release of dopamine.
   
Rutgers researcher Helen Fisher says it’s a wonderful addiction when it’s going well but horrible when it’s going poorly. She says “People kill for love. They die for love.“

The scientists studied the brains of the recently heartbroken and found additional activity in a part of the brain that mimics cravings like that of an addict for cocaine.

Researcher Larry Young, at Emory University, says that romantic love theoretically can be simulated with chemicals. But he says the way to really get the spark back is to engage in behavior that stimulates the release of the brain’s bonding chemicals. He suggests hugging, kissing and intimate contact.
   
He says his wife tells him that flowers also work.