The limbic system is several structures combined including the basal nuclei, thalamus, oxytocin and hypothalamus. .
While all of these structures are vital, author Diane Ackerman discusses the importance of the hormones oxytocin and hypothalamus in a person's experience with love. Oxytocin, also known as the "cuddle chemical" plays an important role in romantic love, it encourages cuddling between lovers and increases pleasure during intercourse. The hormone stimulates the smooth muscles and sensitizes the nerves which is also linked to the feeling of "closeness" that one experiences after intercourse while the hypothalamus is directly connected in both behavioral and sexual function (Ackerman, 163).When merging these important functions, one can understand how the limbic system greatly contributes to the process of falling in love. As previously stated within the presence of an object craved, adrenaline also known as epinephrine is unleashed. It causes the individual's heart rate to increase, the sweat glands are stimulated, and the brain becomes increasingly more alert which is exactly how people describe the feeling and energy of being " in love." While neurotransmitters does play an enormous part in the brain's role in falling in love, there are layers of the brain itself that changes when a person is in love. .
A experiment conducted by scientist Helen Fisher studied couples who described themselves as "intensely in love" were scanned by an MRI, while looking at a photograph of their significant other. "The researchers saw a glow in several regions of the lovers' brains, representing blood flow. Among them were important clusters of brain cells related to motivation and the right ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens." (Pincott, 283) These parts of the brain are known as the reward centers. When these areas are activated, the person "feels good" chemical is being released by the VTA to the caudate nucleus and the nucleus accumbens.