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with gifts, compliments, appreciation, surprises, and treats of pleasure. They have re-romanticised their relationship. They look forward to giving gifts to each
other, and graciously receive them. They are refreshed by the attraction they still feel for each other and have learned that in mature love, attraction is based
on having a shared past and an ongoing shared present.

Love on the brain

The Chemistry of Love

There are a lot of chemicals racing around your brain and body when you're in love. Researchers are gradually learning more about the roles they
play when we are falling in love and when we're in long-term relationships. Estrogen and testosterone play a role in the sex drive area. Without
them, we might never venture into the "real love" arena.

Initial symptoms when we first fall in love include a racing heart, flushed skin and sweaty palms. Researchers say this is due to the dopamine, norepinephrine
and phenylethylamine we're releasing.
Dopamine is thought to be the "pleasure chemical," producing a feeling of bliss. High levels of dopamine are also associated with norepinephrine, which
heightens attention, short-term memory, hyperactivity, sleeplessness and goal-oriented behavior. In other words, couples in this stage of love focus intently on
the relationship and often on little else.

Researchers use magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to watch people's brains when they look at a photograph of their object of affection. During research,
scans showed increased blood flow in areas of the brain with high concentrations of receptors for dopamine, associated with states of euphoria, craving and
addiction.

Norepinephrine is similar to adrenaline and produces the racing heart and excitement. According to Helen Fisher, anthropologist from Rutgers University,
together these two chemicals produce elation, intense energy, sleeplessness, craving, loss of appetite and focused attention. She also says, "The human body
releases the cocktail of love rapture only when certain conditions are met and ... men more readily produce it than women, because of their more visual nature."

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is released from the pituitary gland and bathes the brain and reproductive tracts of both women and men. This chemical increases our sensitivity to
touch and encourages grooming and cuddling in both sexes. It also reduces stress-causing hormones in the body.

Oxytocin is released every time we hold hands or snuggle up close to someone. It bonds us with the people we love most, whether a lover, child, family member
or friend. Studies show oxytocin levels peak for women when delivering a baby and breast-feeding, which are both actions that send oxytocin levels
skyrocketing. A labour-inducing drug, Pitocin, is a form of oxytocin.

The oxytocin effect is more powerful in women, probably because it works in concert with estrogen (more plentiful in the female body) and is subdued by Page362
testosterone (higher in men). Research shows that men who regularly stimulate their mates' oxytocin levels are treated by those women with greater affection.