• Question: Does the brain control love?

    Asked by Alanna Senior and Saema K to Ria, Rachel, Joe, Adrian on 10 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by zen.
    • Photo: Joe Bathelt

      Joe Bathelt answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      The brain is a very important part of all our thought processes. The body also has an effect on the brain through senses and through hormones that are produced in different parts of the body.
      There wouldn’t be a feeling of love without the brain, but there is also no difference between ‘you’ and ‘your brain’ – they are part of the same thing. Therefore, I would argue that the brain does not control love.

    • Photo: Adrian Chu

      Adrian Chu answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      I’ll leave the details to the neuroscientists here, but generally speaking the answer is “not entirely”. Love is a culmination of many traits such as attraction, affection and bonding (including those between parents and children) etc. that involves biology and chemistry taking place in the human body (or between human bodies), in addition to voluntary thinking and decision-making in the brain.
      The biochemical bits make up the endocrine system in our bodies, which doesn’t always actively rely on the brain for instructions. For example, hormonal changes and responses to pheromones from a member of the opposite sex arguably makes up for the inexplicable attraction in the first place! On the other hand, hormones such as oxytocin are involved in creating bonding between a mother and her child during breast-feeding. All of these are examples of love, not just romance!

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