full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shannon Odell: The science of falling in love


Unscramble the Blue Letters


Love is often described as hrwniraeatmg, heart-wrenching and even heartbreaking. So, what does the brain have to do with it? Everything! The journey from first spark to last tear is guided by a symphony of neurochemicals and brain systems.

As you begin to fall for someone, you may find yourself excessively daydreaming about them and wntiang to spend more and more time together. This first stage of love is what phlitogoyscss call infatuation, or passionate love. Your new rtiislhaeonp can feel almost intoxicating, and when it comes to the brain, that’s not far from the truth. iauaenfttd individuals show iaensercd aictvitaon in the ventral tegmental area. The VTA is the reward-processing and motivation hub of the biarn, finrig when you do things like eat a sweet treat, quench your thirst, or in more extreme cases, take drugs of abuse. Activation releases the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine, teaching your brain to rpeeat behaviors in anticipation of receiving the same itnaiil reward. This increased VTA activity is the reason love's not only euphoric, but also draws you towards your new partner.

Open Cloze


Love is often described as ____________, heart-wrenching and even heartbreaking. So, what does the brain have to do with it? Everything! The journey from first spark to last tear is guided by a symphony of neurochemicals and brain systems.

As you begin to fall for someone, you may find yourself excessively daydreaming about them and _______ to spend more and more time together. This first stage of love is what _____________ call infatuation, or passionate love. Your new ____________ can feel almost intoxicating, and when it comes to the brain, that’s not far from the truth. __________ individuals show _________ __________ in the ventral tegmental area. The VTA is the reward-processing and motivation hub of the _____, ______ when you do things like eat a sweet treat, quench your thirst, or in more extreme cases, take drugs of abuse. Activation releases the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine, teaching your brain to ______ behaviors in anticipation of receiving the same _______ reward. This increased VTA activity is the reason love's not only euphoric, but also draws you towards your new partner.

Solution


  1. wanting
  2. repeat
  3. initial
  4. infatuated
  5. firing
  6. heartwarming
  7. psychologists
  8. relationship
  9. increased
  10. activation
  11. brain

Original Text


Love is often described as heartwarming, heart-wrenching and even heartbreaking. So, what does the brain have to do with it? Everything! The journey from first spark to last tear is guided by a symphony of neurochemicals and brain systems.

As you begin to fall for someone, you may find yourself excessively daydreaming about them and wanting to spend more and more time together. This first stage of love is what psychologists call infatuation, or passionate love. Your new relationship can feel almost intoxicating, and when it comes to the brain, that’s not far from the truth. Infatuated individuals show increased activation in the ventral tegmental area. The VTA is the reward-processing and motivation hub of the brain, firing when you do things like eat a sweet treat, quench your thirst, or in more extreme cases, take drugs of abuse. Activation releases the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine, teaching your brain to repeat behaviors in anticipation of receiving the same initial reward. This increased VTA activity is the reason love's not only euphoric, but also draws you towards your new partner.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
infatuated individuals 2
individuals show 2
show increased 2
higher cortical 2
spending time 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
infatuated individuals show 2


Important Words


  1. abuse
  2. activation
  3. activity
  4. anticipation
  5. area
  6. behaviors
  7. brain
  8. call
  9. cases
  10. daydreaming
  11. dopamine
  12. draws
  13. drugs
  14. eat
  15. euphoric
  16. excessively
  17. extreme
  18. fall
  19. feel
  20. find
  21. firing
  22. guided
  23. heartbreaking
  24. heartwarming
  25. hub
  26. increased
  27. individuals
  28. infatuated
  29. infatuation
  30. initial
  31. intoxicating
  32. journey
  33. love
  34. motivation
  35. neurochemicals
  36. neurotransmitter
  37. partner
  38. passionate
  39. psychologists
  40. quench
  41. reason
  42. receiving
  43. relationship
  44. releases
  45. repeat
  46. reward
  47. show
  48. spark
  49. spend
  50. stage
  51. sweet
  52. symphony
  53. systems
  54. teaching
  55. tear
  56. tegmental
  57. thirst
  58. time
  59. treat
  60. truth
  61. ventral
  62. vta
  63. wanting