Why Do We Feel Butterflies In Our Stomach When We See That Special Someone?

You know that feeling when you're attracted to someone and your stomach tickles? You think there are a million butterflies fluttering around because you're so in love and you could fly. Well, I'm sorry to be the one to burst your bubble but the reason behind it is not so romantic.

Image Credit: Alexa Drake

When you see someone you’re interested in, what seems like butterflies in your stomach is actually adrenaline, a stress response. Butterflies in the stomach are the corporeal consciousness in humans of a "fluttery" feeling in the stomach. This is triggered by a decrease of blood flow to the organ. Stomach butterflies are related with the body’s fight-or-flight response. Once the brain distinguishes a possible danger to endurance, it increases awareness by levitating the heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing proportion. The nervous system arouses the adrenal glands, which then discharge hormones containing adrenaline and cortisol that results in the body being a nervous sweaty wreck. The stomach muscles are also super-sensitive throughout the fight-or-flight response. The additional sensitivity may be somewhat to be at fault for that fluttery feeling.

A crew of British neurologists has acknowledged four parts of the brain that counter when someone is in love. Three deal with predictable emotional states of ecstasy and excitement connected with love, but one of the lately revealed zones is narrowly linked to stirring feelings in the stomach. The conclusions originate from the brain scans of people presented with images of people they admitted to being "truly and madly" in love with. The research was conducted by Andreas Bartels, a postgraduate student, and Prof Semir Zeki at University College London.

Moral of the Story: I'm sorry to be the party pooper here but if you feel fluttery every time you see your significant other, then you need to prioritize your feelings again.