Paa Tanzania – issue 101

Page 12

The science of attraction

Why we love to love… Exploring the science of attraction

You’d think a blind date between love and science would result in an evening of awkward silences, but it turns out the pair have plenty in common. Paa looks at the chemical reactions in our bodies that occur when we feel attraction and selects some of the best romantic spots in Tanzania to share with your significant other. As is only fair, we also spare a thought for the singletons out there. What is Love? Whether you are looking for ‘Mr/ Miss Right’ or happy to make do with ‘Mr/Miss Right Now’, attraction can come with some strange symptoms. Think of the last time you unexpectedly met someone that enchants you. You start to sweat, suddenly become incapable of forming a coherent sentence and are struck by a physical clumsiness that makes even walking normally suddenly beyond your skill-set. OK, perhaps that’s just me, but there is plenty of scientific evidence that feelings of love release a potent chemical cocktail inside of us that can have

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Paa Tanzania

a transformative effect on our behaviour. Attraction floods our brain with the ‘happy hormones’ of oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin, causing a surge of positive emotion. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, which is why finding love has been considered throughout history as life’s ultimate goal. The euphoria can be so consuming that the love-struck can struggle to give thought to anything else – even eating and sleeping. Scientists have found the rush of the release of these hormones induces a drug-like high and can be just as addictive. The beginning

Finding our other half Is love life's ultimate goal?

stage of falling in love – which scientists’ term ‘limerance’ – cannot be sustained forever and the hope is it develops into something deeper, more honest and understanding. If it


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