Scientific evidence: you really are on a pink cloud when you are in love

You feel nauseous just thinking about your new love. You don't dare to eat in front of someone, you don't know what to wear, and you can't really focus on anything else.

Falling in love is something beautiful and something very real. Because that pink cloud that you float on, it seriously exists, according to scientists. Research into the brain and what happens in human behavior is incredibly popular in science. When you are completely head over heels, your brain produces dopamine. This neurotransmitter causes a happy feeling, just like you get when you're hungry and eat something.

But that's not all. Your amygdala is also involved in your falling in love. And that's a brain area involved in fear, but it's actually less active when you're in love. In other words: love really makes you blind. You are no longer afraid of anything, because your brain blocks those fears. Therefore, you dare to give yourself completely to a true crush.

Another brain area involved in falling in love and sexual attraction: the hypothalamus. This is clearly an area that becomes active when there is enjoyment and when there are butterflies in the stomach.

The ventral tegmental area is part of the brain's reward system. Here lies a bit of your ‘true love’ hidden. People who looked at photos of their loved ones with whom they had been together for more than ten years had more activity in this area than when they looked at photos of good friends. And some people who have just started a budding romance also have a bit more activity here. So... You can really still be in love after ten years.

My favorite is the cingulate cortex. Research shows that people develop romantic feelings and that this area becomes more active. But this feeling of love is felt both in a crush on someone else and for your own children. How sweet. The intense love you feel for your children is therefore comparable to the love you feel in a romantic setting. I find that sweet. Because yes, I am really really really in love with my two little boys. Nothing can be done about it, so I literally want to eat them up with love.