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Written by Monika M & Edited by Zhonghao Zheng
The first thing that comes to one’s mind when you say love is a picture of a big red heart. It is not that uncommon to hear people declare their adoration and love for each other through heart shaped things and verbal declarations such as “with all my heart” and “from the bottom of the heart”. With the hallyu wave, knowingly or unknowingly, we have even seen this “love heart” evolve into a more anatomically accurate version today.
To know more about its origins, we need to travel back in time. The heart was considered to be a symbol of life in many cultures. For instance, many ancient Greek and Roman philosophers and literatures associated the intertwined feelings of love and strong emotions with the essence of life. With the heart being considered the seat of emotions and affection, it seemed to metaphorically take on the form of love as we know it today, proudly displayed globally in art and literature.
“Love shook my heart,
Like the wind on the mountain
Troubling the oak-trees.”
- Sappho (630 BC-570 Bc)
The idea of love being associated with the heart may also be tied to the importance of forming close bonds and connections throughout human evolution. Emotional connections and attachments were crucial for survival and social cohesion, and the heart hence became a symbol of these deep, meaningful relationships.
Being medical students, it would be a grave sin to not explore the biological basis of this association. Strong emotions we feel such as love and adoration often manifest as physical sensations in the chest. Many feel their heart racing or their chest filling with a fluttering feeling. Such strong feelings activate one’s limbic system which in turn stimulates intense activation of the sympathetic nervous system making one’s heart beat faster. Although emotions are processed in the brain, the physical sensations associated with strong emotions are often felt in the chest area, reinforcing the heart’s symbolic role in love. So, the next time you hear someone say their heart beats for you, you might in fact, be the reason.
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