The Science of Love

Feb. 13, 2006 — -- Finding love has literally become a science for one online dating Web site.

Chemistry.com uses in-depth profiling based on the latest research in brain chemistry to match singles looking for long-term, committed relationships.

"If you can know something about the basics of human personality, then you can match that with somebody else's brain chemistry and you can create that combustion, create that magic of romantic love," said Dr. Helen Fisher, the chief scientific adviser for Chemistry.com.

Recent studies have mapped out the exact area of the brain activated by romantic love and revealed it is the same area associated with biological urges.

"There were highly specific areas of the brain that were active when looking at one's beloved," said Dr. Arthur Aron, professor of psychology at SUNY Stony Brook. "The areas associated with reward, they're associated with strong desire."

There are more than 800 online dating sites, and about 25 percent of Americans have visited one. Fisher said the problem with other online dating sites was that they only matched people according to traits they had in common, such as social class, ethnic background and education level. Chemistry.com also considers hormonal differences that Fisher said drew people together and helped them produce healthier offspring. But the site says it's the more scientific method for finding true love on the Internet.

Fisher says that there are four personality types -- explorer, builder, negotiator and director -- and that each of them is associated with a chemical in the body. Fisher said explorers were curious, thrill-seeking and optimistic; builders were loyal, calm and good managers; negotiators were demanding, independent and competitive.

According to Fisher, people are often attracted to people outside of their own personality types, but she's not ruling out any possible matches.

"I think that every one of these combinations is a perfectly good kind of combination," Fisher said. "It's just going to result in different types of marriages."