Love

By Victor M Fontane

From a scientific perspective, love is essentially a product of the nervous system and biochemical reactions, driven by neurotransmitters such as dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin, which shape subjective experiences through activities in brain regions like the reward circuit and attachment system. Different stages of romantic love are dominated by specific neurotransmitters: in the passionate phase, a surge of dopamine in the ventral tegmental area and caudate nucleus produces a euphoric feeling akin to addiction, while decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex weakens rational judgment; during the attachment phase, oxytocin enhances social bonds to maintain intimacy, with studies on prairie voles showing that vasopressin receptor levels directly influence mate fidelity; in the stable phase, increased endorphin secretion fosters an attachment pattern resembling a "comfort zone."

Whether it pertains to parent-child attachment, religious fervor, or BDSM relationships, their neural underpinnings involve a dynamic balance between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex: the amygdala triggers emotional responses, the nucleus accumbens is involved in reward anticipation, and impulse inhibition by the prefrontal cortex gradually strengthens in long-term relationships. Conversely, during heartbreak, the anterior cingulate cortex and insula activate pain responses that share neural pathways with physical pain.

Modern neuroscience has succeeded in reducing what was once perceived as a "sacred" experience into measurable physiological processes; this reductionist perspective reveals a universal biological foundation for love while simultaneously raising philosophical questions—does interpreting maternal love as a secretion of oxytocin diminish its ethical value? In fact, scientific explanations do not dissolve the subjective intensity of love; rather, they highlight the uniqueness of human consciousness: despite understanding that emotions arise from neuronal discharges, individuals can still ascribe meanings that transcend biological foundations through the encoding of memories in the hippocampus and the significance constructed by the default mode network. The lexicon built through social constructs filters neural signals via linguistic systems, forming cognitive frameworks; for example, the prefrontal cortex's over-interpretation of reward absence can transform instinctive responses into catastrophic narratives of "loss of meaning."

Cognitive experiments reveal that when individuals cease to evaluate relationships through labels, the activity of the default mode network decreases, alleviating emotional pain. All emotional patterns reflect the adaptive adjustments of neural synapses, differentiated only by the match between stimulus sources and social acceptance; the pleasures of an abuser and the ecstasy of a religious believer may share reward circuits. From an evolutionary perspective, love's essence serves as a survival strategy for gene transmission, yet human consciousness, through cultural reconstruction, ascribes it values that transcend biological imperatives. Understanding the reward mechanisms of dopamine does not diminish the thrill of infatuation; instead, it can extend the emotional gratification phase through anticipatory management. For instance, recognizing the pattern of passion waning after thirty months can inspire proactive memory creation that activates the long-term attachment area in the caudate nucleus. The hippocampus's role in encoding relational memories and mirror neurons' support for empathic abilities both demonstrate the inseparability of biological mechanisms and subjective experiences.

Scientific explanations of love do not lead to nihilism; rather, they unveil the creative possibilities of consciousness within biological constraints: to deny emotional value succumbs to a mechanistic dilemma of "electrochemical storms," yet acknowledging biological foundations enables the expansion of emotional experience dimensions through linguistic reconstruction and behavioral interventions within the framework of neural plasticity. The paradox of human consciousness is that the more we comprehend the materiality of love, the more we can embrace its ineffable complexity with clarity; this cognitive paradox may itself represent an evolutionary advantage of consciousness. Ultimately, although we acknowledge that all feelings are electrochemical storms, we still choose to live earnestly in the eye of this storm. This dialectical relationship between neural mechanisms and philosophical reflection constitutes the profound essence of love. Thus, the Buddha's guidance to sever attachment is aimed at removing the superficial layers of suffering, ultimately leading to a state beyond words where suffering ceases to exist.