A Valentine’s Special: heart has nothing to do with it, it’s all Brain

This article was exclusively written for the Sting by Ms Nadija Ekinović, a  24 years old medical student  in her final year at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ms Ekinović is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA). The opinion expressed in this piece belongs to the writer and does not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.   Have you ever been wondering? That moment when you see that one person who is constantly giving you unimaginable headache and at the same time those well-known butterflies in your stomach, arrhythmia no ECG could ever identify or paraplegia that’s true wonder how are you still standing. Have you ever asked yourself why? What is that, that keeps us even capable of being in love? All those logical questions to seek the answer of such an illogical feeling.   Neuroscientists have discovered that “falling in love” is not as symbolic as it used to be. Thanks to modern medical diagnostics, the feeling you experience from riding a motorbike or bungee jumping are body reactions similar to reactions you have when you’re about to take an important exam or waiting to hear some life-changing news or when you’re falling in love. So as you can see, falling in love is just one hell of a rollercoaster ride. It’s stress that causes your palms to sweat, heartbeat to go skyrocketing or butterflies in your stomach. On the other side, when you’re in love with someone and all of your friends starts to complaining, you’ll find yourself in a very difficult position. From that point you can easily blame hormones, you’ll not be wrong. Those little molecules we call hormones will make you drug addict in a second. Actually brain scans show drug addicts brains are very similar, almost identical to the brain of person in love. despite having adrenalin rush causing all of the above, high increase of dopamine will result in happy feelings, while decrease of serotonin can result in having your personality so altered that some outsider could easily identify madness within you. Since serotonin will stabilize your mood and increase your affection towards that special someone, after a while its drop will be so low you’ll start acting same as person with diagnosed OCD. So that’s the stage when you’re literally obsessed with that person and you cannot do anything to stop it. I guess that’s why it’s called falling head over heels. Some people go through life not ever knowing what it’s like to feel that thing we humans call “being in love”. I believe no matter how much pain caused you, everyone should experience it at least once. Otherwise you’re not complete. You see, those feelings, whenever they happen, are something that helps you develop, helps you figure out everything you are today. About the author My name is Nadija Ekinović. So after I got into medical school, my journey began. As the time passed I became more involved in various medical associations, student’s organisations, participating and developing different projects. I am 24 years old and this is my final year as medical student at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), currently a member of SCORA team and working as NORA coordinator in the Local Committee Sarajevo of Bosnian and Herzegovinian Medical Students’ Association (BoHeMSA).