Love often strikes like a thunderbolt- inexplicable, unaccountable and often painful. Moreover, we often think that to fall in love means to surrender both our freedom and our reason. But is this true? What is the relationship between love and other, ‘rational’ emotions, and does it mean surrendering our power and our freedom to another?

In this course philosopher of mind and cognitive neuroscientist Berit Brogaard looks at our brain chemistry and psychology to reveal simple truths about this complex emotion.

In this course you will learn:

• Why a broken heart is more than just a metaphor
• Whether we should understand love as an emotion or a drive.
• What happens to our brain chemistry when we fall in- and out- of love.
• How to understand the difference between rational and irrational feelings.
• The evolutionary advantages of falling in love.
• How to use neuroscience to get over a breakup.

As part of the course there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning, suggested further readings to stimulate a deeper exploration of the topic, discussion boards to have your say and an end-of-course assessment set by Professor Brogaard.