Erika Ariane M.

Asido BS Entrep 1B
Understanding the Self

Chemistry of Attachment

THE ATTACHMENT SYSTEM (termed “companionate love”) is characterized by feelings of

calm, security, social comfort, and emotional union. Attachment is associated in the brain
primarily with the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin. This emotion system evolved to
motivate individuals to sustain their affiliations long enough to complete the parental duties of
their species.

For each system, the neural circuits can be expected to vary from one species to the next,
among individuals within a species, and over the life of an individual. The three emotion
systems also act in concert with one another and with other bodily systems. For example, a
person may begin a sexual liaison merely for sexual pleasure, then become romantically
involved with this sexual partner. He can become deeply attached to this partner, too, and these
enhanced feelings of attachment can be explained biologically. After orgasm, levels of
vasopressin rise in men; levels of oxytocin rise in women. These hormones are known to cause
attachment, and probably contribute to the feelings of closeness after sexual intercourse.

The three emotion systems can act independently, as well. Individuals in approximately 90
percent of bird species form seasonal or lifelong pair bonds, becoming attached and rearing
their offspring together. Yet “a lot of birds are having a bit on the side,” reports Jeffrey Black of
Cambridge University.1 In fact, individuals in only 10 percent of the 180 or so species of socially
monogamous songbirds are sexually faithful to their mating partners; the rest engage in “extra-
pair” copulations.

Likewise, men and women can express deep attachment for a long-term spouse or mate at the
same time they express attraction for someone else, and also while they feel the sex drive in
reaction to situations unrelated to either partner. We are physiologically capable of “loving” more
than one person at a time.

The independence of these emotion systems may have evolved among our ancestors to enable
males and females to take advantage of several mating strategies simultaneously. With this
brain architecture, they could form a pair bond with one partner and practice clandestine
adultery too, thereby taking advantage of rare “extra” mating opportunities. They could also
practice polygamy if the opportunity arose. But for modern humans, these distinct brain circuits
have enormously complicated life, contributing to today’s worldwide patterns of adultery and
divorce; the high incidence of sexual jealousy, stalking, and spouse battering; and the
prevalence of homicide, suicide, and clinical depression associated with romantic rejection.

What is the biology of these emotion systems? Why did they evolve in humans? To what extent
do they control our lives? How should we use this information in the practice of medicine and
the law? I will consider lust, attraction, and attachment separately, and focus my attention on
attraction, the least understood of these fundamental emotion systems, the one we have come
to call “romantic love.”
Sex Hormones

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid. In male humans,
testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as
testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristics such as
increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth of body hair.

Progesterone is a hormone released by the corpus luteum in the ovary. It plays important
roles in the menstrual cycle and in maintaining the early stages of pregnancy. It may also be
involved in the growth of certain cancers.

Vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone, hormone that plays a key role in maintaining
osmolality (the concentration of dissolved particles, such as salts and glucose, in the serum)
and therefore in maintaining the volume of water in the extracellular fluid (the fluid space
that surrounds cells). This is necessary to protect cells from sudden increases or decreases
in water content, which are capable of interfering with proper cell function.
Oxytocin, neurohormone in mammals, the principal functions of which are to stimulate
contractions of the uterus during labour, to stimulate the ejection of milk (letdown) during
lactation, and to promote maternal nurturing behaviour.
Prolactin, also known as luteotropic hormone or luteotropin, is a protein that is best known
for its role in enabling mammals, usually females, to produce milk.

Estrogen, or oestrogen, is the primary female sex hormone. It is responsible for the
development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex
characteristics.

Phenethylamine is an organic compound, natural monoamine alkaloid, and trace amine

which acts as a central nervous system stimulant in humans.

Follicle stimulating hormone is produced by the pituitary gland. It regulates the functions
of both the ovaries and testes. Lack or insufficiency of it can cause infertility or subfertility
both in men and women.

Luteinising hormone is produced by the pituitary gland and is one of the main hormones
that control the reproductive system. A gonadotrophic hormone produced and released by
cells in the anterior pituitary gland. It is crucial in regulating the function of the testes in men
and ovaries in women.

Adrenaline, also known as adrenalin or epinephrine, is a hormone, neurotransmitter, and

medication. Epinephrine is normally produced by both the adrenal glands and certain
neurons.

Dopamine is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families that

plays several important roles in the brain and body.