Love is a seemingly intangible emotional concept, a purely subjective experience that varies from person to person. Society and the media influence our perception of the emotion, evident from the commercialization of Valentine’s day and the endless stream of romcoms showing at theaters each February. Yet though there are so many nuances to love, from the way people exhibit it to the reasons they do, we all share a reaction as Homo sapiens. have in common the feelings it gives us in some way or form.

While the sensations of warmth and happiness associated with love may seem magical, they are really caused by biochemical reactions in our brains and emotional psychology, not Cupid. At each step of the romantic process, from love at first sight to bitter heartbreak, chemicals in the brain play a specific role. While first falling in love, brain receptors release a hormone called dopamine which has a similar effect to that of drugs like cocaine.

While obsessive actions are often associated with deep emotional attachment, Dr. Donatella Marazziti of the University of Pisa has found that this obsessive behavior is actually caused by lower levels of serotonin, a calming hormone, found in people who are falling in love.

While true love does breed attachment, so do other hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin, the same hormones causing mother-child attachment. According to upper school science instructor, Jeff Sutton, “oxytocin develops bonds and relationships between humans, so touching can help stimulate that, hugging too.”

Though breakups may be commonly thought of as a depressing ending to what could have been, genetically, they signify the failing of a human’s main goal: continuing the human species. While most people believe that the depressing post-breakup traditions such as eating too much ice cream and watching too many movies come from the loss of a lover, Dr. Helen Fisher of Rutgers University instead believes that rejection carries many similar symptoms to addiction such as “separation anxiety” and illogical attempts to regaining the affection of their partner. Maybe that age-old cliché of drunk phone calls can actually be attributed to a biological response and not a lack of common sense.

Whether or not you believe in true love, the reactions and feelings that come with the phenomena do have a basis in biology.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on January 28, 2015.