14 DAY TRIAL // As it turns out, accusing love of being intoxicating isn't just a figure of speech. On the contrary, there's more literal truth to this observation than we might like to.
So say a team of scientists at the University of Birmingham in the UK who, after having compiled and analyzed data delivered by several previous studies, found that love affects neurological responses and, therefore, behavior much like alcohol does.
The team, led by specialists Ian Mitchell and Steven Gillespie, details the findings of this investigation in a recent report in the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.
How falling in love is kind of, sort of like getting drunk
As explained by researcher Ian Mitchell, it is not love per se that is kind of like alcohol. Rather, it is oxytocin, i.e. the love hormone, that alters people's behavior and makes them act as if they were drunk.
This so-called love hormone is naturally occurring in the brain. Studies carried out over the years have shown that, apart from being involved in maternal bonding after childbirth, it influences how we respond to others and especially to our romantic partners.
More precisely, oxytocin is said to make us more altruistic, more generous and more emphatic. Besides, it makes us more trusting of others and less fearful, anxious or otherwise stressed.
In their paper in the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, the scientists go on to detail that, most of the time, one or two sips of alcohol have the same effect on guys and gals in that they help them relax and interact more easily with those around them.
“They appear to target different receptors within the brain, but cause common actions on GABA [the the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid] transmission in the prefrontal cortex and the limbic structures,” explains specialist Ian Mitchell.
Furthermore, “These neural circuits control how we perceive stress or anxiety, especially in social situations such as interviews, or perhaps even plucking up the courage to ask somebody on a date.”
It's not all fun and games when it comes to oxytocin or alcohol
The University of Birmingham specialists behind this study want people to keep in mind that, just like alcohol can turn people aggressive and encourage them to make some fairly poor decisions, so too can oxytocin have a dark side.
Thus, there is evidence that the love hormone can inhibit fear just enough for folks to find themselves taking unnecessary risks and, in doing so, endangering their wellbeing. What's more, oxytocin can cause people to favor their dearly beloved at the expense of others.