The brain's "wanting" (dopamine) and "liking" (endorphins) systems are separate. Intense reinforcement of the wanting system can create a powerful craving for a person who no longer brings pleasure, explaining why people stay hung up on those who treat them badly or with whom there is no future.

A specific set of 36 questions progressing in emotional depth can make strangers feel attached or in love. This process works not by magic, but by creating a shared, vulnerable narrative. Listening to this narrative causes the participants' autonomic nervous systems (e.g., heart rates) to synchronize, a biological hallmark of bonding.

Our psychological experiences, including positive and negative emotions, are not separate from our physical selves. They are direct results of biological processes in our brain's limbic system, which evolved as an alert system.

Intense, chaotic, or euphoric feelings in a new relationship are often misinterpreted as deep "chemistry" or love. In reality, this intensity can be a sign that one's nervous system recognizes a familiar, and potentially unhealthy, dynamic from the past. True, safe intimacy is often calmer and less dramatic.

A neuroimaging study found that when people feel their partner contributes to their "self-expansion" (making them feel more capable and positive about themselves), brain areas for assessing attractiveness are less active when they view alternative partners. A partner's praise can literally make others seem less appealing.

We unconsciously align our biological rhythms—heart rate, brain waves, etc.—with people around us. This "interpersonal synchrony" is the scientific basis for the feeling of "clicking" with someone and shapes our sense of trust and connection.

When someone says they're turned off by 'nice guys,' it often means their nervous system equates the feeling of love with a fight-or-flight response. Consistency and safety feel boring because they don't trigger the familiar anxiety and chase dynamic learned from past relationships or childhood.

Research shows about half of adults experience "limerence"—an obsessive, emotionally volatile state of infatuation. The other half expects a calmer connection. Neuroscientist Tom Bellamy explains that these two "love tribes" have fundamentally mismatched expectations, which is a major source of heartache and dating disasters.

According to neuroscientist Tom Bellamy, the brain's dopamine reward system is most intensely activated by unpredictable rewards. This is why romantic uncertainty doesn't just cause anxiety; it actively strengthens desire and weakens self-control, driving infatuation into a state of "person addiction."