We can all remember with great clarity the first time we noticed a girl or boy at school. The puppy love of a raw adolescence is a powerful force that gives its victim no peace. Realising suddenly at the age of thirteen or fourteen that you were surrounded by an exciting and sometimes scary array of nubile young flesh that before you’d only considered as an annoying hassle in different clothes.

But this year, scientists say they have discovered what happens in the brain when someone falls in love!

Now I remember those biology classes that explained how female moths, eager for a sexual escapade went about attracting the nearest male that was likely to be thousands of metres away. Yelling ain’t gonna do it for her now is it? Moths fly at night and do not glow in the dark like fireflies so it’s not by sight either.

The solution for our female moth is that she secretes a chemical called a pheromone. In this relationship the females make the first move and her girly goo is incredibly powerful – a male responds to concentrations as low as one molecule per 100,000,000,000,000,000 molecules of air! When she releases her lusty dab of stuff into the air, about one hundredth of a microgram, it’s carried away by the wind and will get the attention of her lover four thousand meters downwind. That’s two and a half miles!!!

So what about us humans? Well there’s much anecdote about the subject but there isn’t that much conclusive scientific evidence that supports the theory completely. Is there a human body odour that affects sexual behaviour?

Musky smells are the most commonly thought of ‘sex’ smells, the Exaltolide 15-Pentadecanolide for example, is perceived by mature women sexually and the effect is particularly heightened at ovulation.

Sweat and vaginal secretions are know also to create the ‘dormitory effect’ – the strong tendency for the menstrual cycles of female roommates to synchronize.

Men’s beards also grow significantly faster in the presence of an ovulating woman, which might explain a thing or two about the fascination with facial hair and the free love philosophy of the seventies hippie movement.

The recent scientists study researched chemical reactions in men and women who were all in the early stages of relationships. Research, published by the Society for Neuroscience, found activity in areas of the brain that are linked to energy and elation.

Predictably, scans found women's brains showed emotional responses, while men's showed activity linked to sexual arousal.

Dr Helen Fisher of Rutgers University said

“The brain circuitry for male-female attachment has evolved to enable individuals to remain with a mate long enough to complete species-specific parenting duties”.

Is that till the next morning Helen or till you’ve put the kids through university?

They found that feelings of intensive romantic love were linked to activity in the right caudate nucleus and right ventral tegmental areadopamine, which have high levels of dopamine activity – Dopamine is a brain chemical that produces feelings of satisfaction and pleasure.

The findings had gender differences too. Most of the women showed more activity in the body of the caudate, the septum and the posterior parietal cortex, which are areas linked to reward, emotion and attention.

While most of the men showed more activity in visual processing areas, including the one associated with sexual arousal as thought.

Dr Helen Fisher went on to state

"We believe romantic love is a developed form of one of three primary brain networks that evolved to direct mammalian reproduction. The sex drive evolved to motivate individuals to seek sex with any appropriate partner. Attraction, the mammalian precursor of romantic love, evolved to enable individuals to pursue preferred mating partners, thereby conserving courtship time and energy. The brain circuitry for male-female attachment evolved to enable individuals to remain with a mate long enough to complete species-specific parenting duties."

It’s all too scientific to me; John Lennon will be turning in his grave! As will Rod Hull who loved that bloody Emu. The truth is that with all these scientific gadgets and measuring sticks, there has not been one final white paper that can blueprint the love phenomenon. Yet we can all associate ourselves to the writings and outpourings of many a poet, you must remember one of these -

Love’s the sweetest thing – all you need is love – let love rule – love, love me do – love me tender – the power of love – love on the line – love buzz – the love boat – I just can’t stop loving you – I’ll never love another – love changes everything – rubber lover – crazy little thing called love – love to love you baby – touch me with your love – one love – hey mr lover man – sea of love – satellite of love – a love supreme – loves theme – fell in love with a girl – love will tear us apart – love is blind – I will always love you – it’s gonna be a lovely day – whole lot of love – mr lover lover – let me put my love into you – I just wanna be loved by you – love is the drug – I’d do anything for love (but I won’t do that)

Wherever we turn love is all around, pass me the sick bucket
I LOVE YOU X