IS LOVE JUST A FLEETING CHEMICAL HIGH IN THE BRAIN?

Romantic feelings rely on a complicated concoction of chemicals and psychology. But as part of our series on Life’s Big Questions with The Conversation, we ask, can they wear off?

By: Parashkev Nachev

Published: 14th February 2020, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200211-love-is-it-just-a-fleeting-high-fuelled-by-brain-chemicals?ocid=global_future_rss&xtor=ES-213-[BBC%20News%20Newsletter]-2020February14-[future]

Level of difficulty:**

BEFORE YOU READ

·         Why do we fall in love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKfJTR2o2LY

·         Why do we love? A philosophical inquiry TED Ed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJSiUm6jvI0

QUESTIONS

1.      What important conclusion does the writer draw concerning love from the examples he provides? The process seems to lack…..

2.      According to paragraph, we have no/ some /total control over the process of falling in love.

3.      What is the problem with linking love to pheromones in humans?

4.      We infer from the text that pheromones are chemicals that …

5.      Oxytocin is not considered a viable answer to why we fall in love because its effects have been shown to be non-existent /minimal / significant.

6.      The results of the research involving brain imaging cannot explain why we fall in love because…

7.      Provide a one sentence summary of the text so far. Your sentence needs to include certain key points; a possible answer is provided in the key

8.      The conclusion is reached in the text that “the the neural apparatus that makes falling in love possible” needs to be complex. Why is this so?

9.      Why can falling in love feel so instinctual and spontaneous? Because there is / is no … and this so because in the case of falling in love there is /is no need to …

10.   The example of facial recognition is provided to prove that….

11.   The last three paragraphs of the text form ….. and we know this because this section of the text is more specific/ more general and provides a summary of/ a new take on/ a specific take on the information provided in the text.

12.   What is the most important take home point from the conclusion of the text?

WRITING TASK

This is a very easy text to practice your summary skills with so take a shot at it. Alternatively, try writing an essay in which you try to explain why we fall in love

 IS LOVE JUST A FLEETING CHEMICAL HIGH IN THE BRAIN? KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This text has a definite wow factor, which should make it appealing. It is also very well organized and could lend itself to summarization, a very important cognitive challenge students need to get to grips with.

1.      Rational appraisal

2.      No

3.      There is very little evidence that they exist in humans

4.      Can signal attraction outside the body

5.      Minimal

6.      (The fact) That parts of our brains are set ablaze by one thing does not tell us much if they are just as excited by a very different, other thing.

7.      None of the possible explanations provided thus far provide an answer to the question of why we fall in love. (Alternatively, you could list them: pheromones, oxytocin…)

8.      Because love is not simple enough to be captured by a mechanistic description. (This is the best answer as it comes directly out of the topic sentence)

9.      There is no explicit reasoning/ detached rationality involved; detach ourselves from the grounds for a decision so that others can record, understand and apply it independently of us.

10.   Instinct is not simple OR instinct is (potentially)more sophisticated than rational analysis

11.  The conclusion;  more general ; a summary

12.   Love (like all our thoughts, emotions and behaviours) rests on a very complex interplay of physical processes in the brain. (Make sure to adapt your answer to the question as has been done in the key)