{"id":2892,"date":"2011-08-10T10:27:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-10T14:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/?p=2892"},"modified":"2011-08-10T10:27:27","modified_gmt":"2011-08-10T14:27:27","slug":"romantic-love-can-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/08\/10\/romantic-love-can-last\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2605 “Romantic Love Can Last”"},"content":{"rendered":"

AoM<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

As it turns out, your brain reacts to love the same way it reacts to cocaine. So you weren\u2019t nuts to feel addicted to your beloved nor the physical pain of withdrawal when she left you. Love lights up the reward centers of your brain and douses them in dopamine, as well as serotonin and oxytocin. These neural fireworks set off feelings of euphoria, pleasure, craving, recklessness, and obsession.<\/p>\n

So when you\u2019re smitten, you\u2019re literally flying high. But the high can\u2019t last, and it isn\u2019t designed to. Or so it was thought.<\/p>\n

Researchers theorized that intense romantic love was only a temporary stage designed to make mate selection more efficient, and that once this powerful force brought two people together, it inevitably mellowed into attachment or \u201ccompanionate love,\u201d a stage that develops as time passes and the couple\u2019s lives become intertwined. As opposed to the intensity of romantic love, companionate love is marked by a happy togetherness and a comfortable stability that is designed to keep the couple together to raise their children.<\/p>\n

And indeed, that progression from romantic to companionate love can be observed in the majority of the population. When researchers looked at the brains of those who had been together for years, the scans confirmed their theory; the regions that used to light up with romantic love had dimmed and been replaced by activity in the centers for long-term attachment and pair-bonding. Passionate, romantic love, researchers concluded, had an average shelf-life of about 12-18 months\u2013up to four years at the absolute most.<\/p>\n

But what about the elderly couple holding hands that your girlfriend points at and says, \u201cAww, I want to be like them?\u201d The couples who claim to still be head over heels for each other even after a few decades together? Are they lying? Fooling themselves? Is it possible to thwart evolutionary destiny?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I LOVE this blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AoM: As it turns out, your brain reacts to love the same way it reacts to cocaine. So…\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-linked","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-KE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1917,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/03\/18\/linked-mastering-the-at-home-dinner-date\/","url_meta":{"origin":2892,"position":0},"title":"\u2605 Linked: Mastering the at-home dinner date","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Great post for the single men out there... Few dates are better than having dinner at home. Without the distractions of a restaurant, all of the focus can be on you and your date.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find that the conversation will be more comfortable and honest. And of course, women love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Linked"","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1096,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/10\/30\/cirque-du-soleil-viva-elvis\/","url_meta":{"origin":2892,"position":1},"title":"\u2605 Cirque Du Soleil: Viva Elvis","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"October 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"While at Blogworld in Las Vegas back in 2009, I attended a Cirque Du Soleil show titled, The Beatles - Love. The show was pretty magnificient. Here's the review. This year, I attended the newest Cirque show on the strip titled, \"Viva Elvis\" and it was pretty remarkable. 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