In addition, researchers have found that
areas of the
brain associated with drug cravings (e.g., cocaine) were also activated in participants after they viewed
photographs of their lost loves.
A number
of psychologists have described some forms
of love just as you have: like an addiction; there is intense desire to spend time with the object
of our affection, we experience intense cravings, emotional dependence, mood swings, and even loss
of control and compulsive behaviors.1 In one study utilizing fMRI technology (
brain imaging), subcortical reward systems in the
brain were activated when adults viewed
photographs of someone who had rejected their love; 2 this part
of the
brain is the same
area that lights up when people experience intense, romantic love3 and is rich in dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter associated with rewards like pleasure.