The Biology of Love

What happens in your brain and body when you care for another human being, or when you are cared for? How does love seep into your cells?

We often think of non-sexual love as ethereal or spiritual. However, caring in the forms of parenting, friendship, and broader compassion, are as deeply rooted in our physiology as sex. 

Dr. Mark Reimers returns to West Hill this week to describe some of what science has recently uncovered about the aspects of love that aren't covered in your usual biology class.

READINGS

“As a member of the social species, success is not the ability of going alone. Success is measured by being someone on whom others can depend.” - John T. Cacioppo, U Chicago, social brain researcher

“It is the power of being with others that shapes our brains.” - Louis Cozolino, Pepperdine U, psychologist

“We are an intensely social species--it has been argued that our social nature defines what makes us human...” -Ralph Adolphs, California Institute of Technology, neuroscientist