“A life without love is like a year without spring.”- Octavius Paler
By Diya Dronavadhyala
As the short days on our snowy winter campus are replaced with cherry blossoms and sunny afternoons, it feels like love is wafting through the air. For some, spring represents a season of fresher produce, fruity drinks, and flowery pastries. For others, it represents a new season of hope and romance. In the wake of Valentine’s day, grocery aisles are brimming with candy hearts and chocolate. Our society, for better or worse, inextricably links love with food; as the saying goes, “the way to one’s heart is through their stomach,” and of course, every rom-com viewer will tell you to “trust your gut when it comes to love.” But are these proverbs rooted in any truth? In other words, how important is our gut in shaping our social interactions? From first-date stress to social bonding and affection, we can turn to neuroscience to examine whether the fluttering sensations we associate with love this season begin, at least in part, somewhere lower than the heart.