This is Your Brain in "Love"

/ NMBC/

For the past two weeks at Solid Rock Youth we’ve been privileged to have Mandy Blanchard from the Valley Care Pregnancy Center / Acadia Pregnancy Support with us as a guest speaker.

Last night Mandy taught on the Brain and Falling in Love.  Did you know that:

  • Research shows that between the ages of 12-25, your brain is being transformed and rewired – hard wired for the rest of your life.  
  • The first part of your brain to develop is the amygdala.  This is the instinctive centre of the brain.  Think emotions and reactions. 
  • The last part of your brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex. This is the “parent” part of your brain, the area of reasoning and thinking ahead.  It’s the area that knows consequences of your actions (ex).  This matures last – in your late teens and early twenties.  
  • This means that teenagers are quick to react and respond (amygdala), but have a very squishy brake (prefrontal cortex) and are not quick to think ahead or consider consequences. 
  • When you feel attracted to someone, it most cases, it has less to do with that person than it does with the chemical reaction in your brain.  
  • When you feel like you are “falling in love” it’s because your brain is increasing it’s levels of Norepinephrine and Dopamine and decreasing Serotonin. These chemicals last, on average, for 3-4 months - which is roughly the same length as the average teenage relationship.
  • The challenge: [1] Don’t allow your amygdala to lead the way, work hard to to listen to your prefrontal cortex and think about the consequences. [2] Don’t let the chemicals lead the way and jump into a relationship, wait those 3-4 months to see if the relationship is really worth pursuing.

Thanks, Mandy!