[Animals] Can animals fall in love with each other? This is what the studies say

[#Wittels-]

By referring to this question we are attributing culturally acquired human feelings to them, so it is very difficult to find an answer from a scientific point of view

Love is a mystery. The famous 'butterflies in the stomach make' that we feel and that we are so happy and at the same time, in case it is not reciprocal or there are problems, so unfortunate, they can only be explained through works of art or poems that exalt the emotion of be in love. Hence, it is so difficult for science to be able to objectively explain why we feel that spiritual connection with someone, that need for physical closeness or that circular thought that always leads us to think of that person. Therefore, when faced with the question of whether animals can also fall in love, it refers us to what we understand by love, whether it is quantifiable or observable in the physical world of bodies. There are currents of biology that see a danger for the scientific study of animals the fact of assigning them human traits and meanings that are not there. But there is no other way to do it: wondering about love in animals involves establishing a solid foundation on what science understands and defines by love in human beings.

 

Romantic love and companion love
This is what Bianca Acevedo, a psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, believes in an article published in the magazine 'Discover'. What is love? We, as animals, what do we feel when we are in love? "A widely accepted perspective is that there are two types: one passionate, romantic in nature, and then another for companionship, such as the one we may feel for a family member or friend. The romantic, on the other hand, is the intense desire to bond with another person, and not only refers to a physical union, but also emotional or cognitive, "he explains.

In the animal kingdom, as in the human, the different specimens are allied to survive and live together. And sometimes it seems that they really feel a very close bond between them, in the same way that we do with our children, parents or friends. Hence, elephants have been recorded that seem to watch and mourn their dead or of mothers of the monkey species who carry the corpse of their children long after they have died. These examples are a sample that they may indeed have emotional ties with their peers and that they are not very different from the one we feel and enter into company love. But there are examples that can also suggest that animals can come to feel romantic love. Claudia Vinke, a biologist specializing in animal behavior at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, admits that there are pairs of albatrosses that stay together for more than 60 years. "All year round they fly over the oceans and then once a year they go to an island, see each other, greet each other and perform rituals that seem loving. If you witness them, it is easy to suspect that there is a stronger bond between them. ".

 

Obviously, monogamy has been observed in all kinds of animals, from birds to insects. There is no clear pattern to identify which species are more prone to monogamy and values are not, but it is generally related to the way in which those species reproduce. Also with the rearing they carry out of their offspring: if it takes longer, it is natural that the parents have to stay together for a longer time. This is one of the main conclusions of scientists about monogamy in the animal kingdom: shared breeding is better than alone. However, there are other cases where it is more difficult to explain why so much loyalty and commitment is due. "As a general rule, the typical reproductive system of mammals is that a male will end up mating with several females," says Alexander Ophir, a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at Cornell University. "Some female mammals, such as big cats, can have multiple parents for the same litter of cubs." Hence, the expert indicates that the pattern of "falling in love" is quite uncommon among mammals, we being an exception that is explained by culture. "We are socially monogamous because of our culture," concludes the expert.
Can love be measured?
The abstract and intangible feeling of love is a barrier when it comes to studying the factors that make us crazy about someone. Psychologists usually do tests in which the subjects with the intensity of their emotions according to different situations or people. Acevedo is one of the scientists who has tried the most to unravel the mental and emotional mechanisms that lead to feeling that obsession with another individual, such as measuring blood flow within the brain when people have images of their partner in front of them or think about experiences they have had with them. Specifically, when someone we love romantically very much comes to mind, the amygdala area, the emotional center of the brain, is activated, as well as areas associated with memory or intense concentration.

 

There are also chemical signs that give away the romantic feeling. How? Obviously, from the quantification of oxytocin levels in the body, the one known as the "love drug", although it is not entirely reliable, as Ophir warns. "This hormone is generated when the brain's reward circuit is activated, that is, when we do things that make us feel good," he explains. "That chemical prick can eventually condition our behavior", which results in a greater propensity for monogamy by "not feeling good only when you mate, but also when you do it with a single individual." Something that is possible that it also occurs in animals, since it is true that similar physiological reactions occur, but it is impossible to be sure that they are correlated with loving feelings. Basically, because as in humans, it is from every point of view unprovable how much or how little something excites you, since it is part of a subjective experience that no external mind can enter. We can ask each other, talk about it, get an idea, but at no time can we experience an emotion for someone, which makes scientific research around love always stuck in a series of barriers and limits.

 

Link: https://www.elconfidencial.com/alma-corazon-vida/2021-11-24/animales-enamorados-amor-relaciones_3328553/