Love, Veritably—A Mélange of Love, Intimacy, Attraction, and Sensuality

Abstract

Love forms the theme of various poems, plays, historic as well as contemporary literature, and is glorified in art and music, deliberated upon in speeches, celebrated on the silver-screen. Nevertheless, the scientific basis of love remains wrapped in mysticism although there have been advances in pinpointing the hormones, neurotransmitters, and more recently the anatomical pathways that play a role in love, with evidence in imaging modalities. We aim at demystifying the role, function, and workings of love and its counterparts—intimacy, attraction, attachment, and sensuality—in this review.