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We Loved
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The Science Of Love (The Chemistry of Romance)
Chemistry of Love
Love Addiction and Monogamouse
Monogamous
Monogamouse Addicted to Love
Relax, Here's a Love Drug We Can All Use
WEEK OF LOVE / THE PHYSIOLOGY OF Love
WEEK OF LOVE / THE PHYSIOLOGY OF Love
Scientists Turn Up the Lights On Love
AUTISM & OXYTOCIN
MATING GAME
Paradox Of Our Times
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Chemistry of Love: Love at first sight may
sound cliched but researchers
now know that romance, quite literally, requires
a certain chemistry
Nuna Alberts
Ottawa Citizen, FINAL ED, P C3
February 14, 1999
TEXT:
News Researchers now know why one glimpse of the right person can set off a
chemical reaction leading to romance. But what happens after that? Why do some
relationships succeed while others fizzle? That may be more magic than science.
"Need is the thing that holds a marriage together over the long haul," says
actor Carol O'Connor. "If the need stops the marriage stops."
Thirty-one year old Dana Commandatore claims she has never been the kind of
woman that men immediately notice. But one night last year while at a singles
bar with friends, she couldn't keep the opposite sex away. "Guys were coming up
to me and getting very close, and I was like, 'Wow!' "The New York City office
manager, now in a committed relationship with one of the men she met that night,
credits her ability to attract him that evening to a costly potion ($60 for a
tenth of an ounce) called Falling in Love. Its manufacturer, Philosophy
cosmetics, claims the concoction is laced with pheromones, those odourless
airborne molecules, synthesized from human chemical secretions, that are
purported to boost attractiveness. (And yes, it's available at department stores
near you.)
Bunk? Sniff if you will. Many do, but whether one believes Ms. Commandatore is
hopelessly susceptible or remarkably savvy, one thing is clear: New research in
the field of love and attraction shows that romance -- long the domain of poets,
philosophers and five-hankie movies -- may be ruled as much by molecules as it
is by emotion. In fact, scientists now believe that the impulse that drives us
to mate, marry and remain monogamous is not a result of mere social convention:
It is also a complex mix of naturally occurring chemicals and hormones --
Cupid's elixirs, if you will -- that helps guide us through life's most
important decision. That physiological component, say the researchers, may help
explain some of love's mysteries: why opposites attract, why so many seemingly
mismatched couples succeed, why we stick together with partners through even the
worst of times.
"When you fall in love or in lust, it isn't merely an emotional event," says Dr.
Theresa Crenshaw, the Masters and Johnson trained author of The Alchemy of Love
and Lust. "Your body's hormones, each with unique contributions, got involved
too."
Free will, of course, can't be discounted. If you like redheads, you like
redheads. If you're a sucker for a beautiful voice, the man who croons Night and
Day to you has an edge. But doctors have long known that even the most primal of
impulses, lust -- the feeling that propels the lonely out the door in search of
love -- has a chemical basis. It is testosterone, the hormone that creates basic
sexual desire in men and women.
Researchers are now concentrating on what happens after one walks out the
door and into a wide world of romantic opportunity. What physical attributes,
outside the obvious, attract? What role do pheromones play? When do other, more
potent brain chemicals begin to kick in? The last decade's discoveries in
neuroscience let researchers predict -- even, for the first time, control,
albeit in a limited way -- what was once thought uncontrollable: love. "We are
at the dawn of a new beginning, where people may soon never have to suffer the
pain of love's slings and arrows," such as rejection, difficulty in bonding and
attachment disorders, says James Fallon, professor of anatomy and eurobiology at
the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine. In 10 years, maybe
less, he says, there could be brain chemical nasal sprays to enhance love
between a couple. "We're very close. And that's not just happy talk... we're
like giddy kids at the possibilities."
Indeed, what scientists believe they already know about matters of the heart is
remarkable. To illustrate their findings, follow the story of Mike, a fictional
Everyman as he falls in love. One night, Mike, single, nervously arrives at a
party, gets a drink, then scans the room. Science tells us that, unconsciously,
he is already noting the size and symmetry of the facial bones of the women
around him (a recent study by University of New Mexico biologists found that
symmetrical bone structure is prized more than anything because it suggests a
lack of undesirable genetic material). He also studies the women's curves, as
research shows that men prefer waists to be 60-80 per cent the size of hips, an
indicator, however crude, of health and fertility. (Women for their part, seek
men with slightly feminized faces -- think Leonardo DiCaprio -- because they
appear warmer, kinder and more trustworthy.) "Judging beauty has a strong
evolutionary component," says psychology professor Devendra Singho of the
University of Texas at Austin. "You're looking at another person and figuring
out whether you want your children to carry that person's genes."
At the party, Mike subconsciously follows these clues and makes eye contact with
Sue. She smiles. His midbrain -- the part that controls visual and auditory
reflexes -- releases the neurotransmitter
dopamine, a brain chemical that gives him a rush -- and the motivation to
initiate conversation. As he nears, Mike's pheromones reach Sue's hypothalamus,
eliciting a "yes, come closer" look. Why this happens isn't clear, but one study
at the University of Bern, in Switzerland, suggests that people use smell as a
possible use for distinguishing genetic similarity in a potential partner -- a
consideration in preventing possible birth defects.
Mike is now feeling the first flutter of sexual attraction. His hypothalamus --
the brain region that triggers the chemicals responsible for emotion -- tells
his body to send out attraction signals: His pupils dilate; his heart pumps
harder so that his face flushes; he sweats slightly, which gives his skin a warm
glow; glands in his scalp release oil to create extra shine. By night's end, he
gets her phone number. The next day, memories of Sue direct his brain to secrete
feelings of yearning that propel him toward the phone. He calls. She sounds
excited. The dopamine released in the base of the forebrain prompts the first
strong feelings of pleasure that Mike associates with Sue.
When they meet, the next night at a restaurant, his stomach does flip-flops and
he starts feeling giddy at the sight of her. He can think of nothing but that
face, those eyes, that smile, as his brain
pathways become intoxicated with elevated levels of dopamine, norepinephrine
(another neurotransmitter) and particularly phenylethylamine (PEA). This
cocktail of natural chemicals gives
Mike a slight buzz, as if he had taken a very low dose of amphetamines (or a
large dose of chocolate, another source of PEA). This contributes to the almost
irrational feelings of attraction -- we've all felt them -- that begin
dominating his thoughts at work, while he drives, as he goes to sleep. "It's a
natural high," says Anthony Walsh, professor of criminology at Boise State
University and author of The Science of Love: Understanding Love and Its Effects
on Mind and Body. "Your pupils dilate, your heart pumps, you sweat -- it's the
same reaction you'd have if you were afraid or angry. It's the fight-or-flight
mechanics, except you don't want to fight or flee." In the weeks that follow,
Mike and Sue's relationships deepens. The first night Mike brings Sue home, he
dims the lights and plays a
little soft music. The chemical oxytocin floods his body.
Twenty years ago, oxytocin was considered a female hormone useful only as a
trigger for labour contractions and to induce lactation. In the '80s, research
found that it is produced in the hypothalamus by both men and women, helping to
create feelings of caring and warmth (thus bonding mother and baby after birth
and during nursing). As Sue's oxytocin also surges, the couple begin forming a
bond. Scientists now think that oxytocin strengthens the brain's receptors that
produce emotions. Oxytocin increases further during touching, cuddling and other
stages of sexual intimacy. It may also make it easier to evoke pleasant memories
of each other while apart. Mike can think of Sue and experience, in his mind,
the way she looks, feels and smells, and that will reinforce his connection to
her. (Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University anthropologist, is conducting research
with magnetic resonance imaging to track which parts of the brain change when
someone is in love.)
Next comes the wedding. Honeymoon. Now what? Fast-forward 18 months. At this
point, Mike and Sue could be at a crossroads. Science tells us that 18 months
to three years after the first
moment of infatuation, it's not unusual for feelings of neutrality for one's
love partner to set in ("Why don't you take out the trash?" vs. "I dream about
you all the time"). For many, there could be a chemical explanation: The mix of
dopamine, norepinephrine, and PEA is so much like a drug, say scientists, that
it takes greater and greater doses to get the same buzz. So after someone has
been with one person for a time, his brain stops reacting to the chemicals
because it is habituated. "The brain can't maintain the revved-up status," says
Mr. Walsh. "As happens with any drug, it needs more and more PEA to make the
heart go pitter-patter."
Couples with attachments that are shaky for other reasons (money woes, abuse,
irreconcilable differences) may part and -- because the body's tolerance for PEA
soon diminishes -- seek someone new with whom to find the thrill of early love.
More likely, however, committed couples will move on to what science suggests is
the most rewarding and enduring aspect of love. Though the same adictive rush is
not involved, ongoing physical contact, not just sex, helps produce endorphins,
another brain chemical, and continued high doses of oxytocin. Endorphins calm
the mind and kill anxiety. Both chemicals are like natural opiates and help
stabilize the couple by inducing what famed obstetrician Michel Ordent, of
London's Primal Health Research Centre (whose book The Scientification of Love
will be published this year), calls "a drug-like dependency."
Even in the animal world, neuroscientists had long wondered what kept prairie
voles loyal to one mate while their cousins, the montane voles, were promiscuous
maters. As it turned out, prairie
voles are much more sensitive to oxytocin. In experiments, when those receptors
are blocked, the animals' stay-at-home tendencies decline. "At present, our
knowledge of neuroscience is doubling
every two and a half years," says Robert Friar, professor of physiology and
human sexuality at Michigan's Ferris State University. "That means that in the
last two and a half years we have learned more than all prior humans about the
workings of the brain." Says the University of California's James Fallon:
"Certainly the '90s are a blur for people in neuroscience. We all want to be up
24 hours a day so we don't miss a thing."
But in the end, will love's mysteries ever unravel in a laboratory? Some, like
Mr. Fallon, say yes. Others, perhaps most of us lucky enough to have experienced
true love, might believe -- and wish --
otherwise. Even in this advanced age of science, where we can transplant organs,
map the human genome and clone our own offspring, we still have not come close
to understanding what, exactly, ignites our spark of life, our souls, our very
being. Maybe, possibly, that will remain true for the farthest reaches of love.
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Meaning of Love
Home Work
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