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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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'Monogamouse' Addicted to Love
STEVE FARRAR
Montreal Gazette, FINAL ED, P A1 / FRONT
February 07, 1999
DOCUMENT TYPE: NEWSPAPER JOURNAL CODE: GAZ LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
RECORD TYPE: FULLTEXT SECTION HEADING: News
Word Count: 599
TEXT:
LONDON - Scientists have investigated the chemistry of love and managed
genetically to engineer a mouse that stays faithful to one mate - a "monogamouse."
The normally feckless rodent became a more loyal lover after receiving a set of
genes from a prairie vole, which is renowned for its fidelity.
The experiment suggests that a lifetime of dedication to one partner may be a
matter of having the right brain chemistry, which links love with addiction.
The scientists have found this is also true for one species of monogamous
monkey. As for humankind, it might explain why some people remain in destructive
relationships.
Dr. Thomas Insel, who led the research team at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.,
said: "The results so far suggest love is simply a form of addiction that makes
some animals form these lifelong pair
bonds." He believes this might be true of all the mammals that pursue lasting
relationships.
About 3 per cent of mammals are monogamous, while the rest are happy to mate
with whomever is available. Insel's work has focused on the prairie vole, an
American rodent that forms a life-long bond during its first sexual encounter.
From that moment on, the voles stand by one another and raise their young
together. The male will aggressively defend his mate from any perceived rival
and will choose her above any other available female. "They are so faithful
that if you remove their long-term mate, they will not accept a new one.
"Eighty per cent of the time they continue to live as widows and widowers," said
Insel.
He discovered that two hormones - oxytocin, which plays a role in controlling
social behaviour, and vasopressin, which is linked with memory - were released
inside the rodent's brain during its first
sexual encounter - the instant the bond is made. By artificially altering the
levels of these hormones, Insel could make the vole fall in love without mating
- or leave it deaf to its natural calling. Such hormones are present in most
animals, but in the monogamous ones they act on parts of the brain that are
linked with cravings and addiction. The love-struck seem, in effect, to be
addicted to their partners.
The American team declined to discuss details of the "monogamouse" until the
research has been published by a scientific journal. But it is thought the
mouse was adapted by inserting vole genes
into its DNA so that the areas of the brain that interacted with the hormones
were switched to addiction - the mouse could then "fall in love." Insel said:
"We know these same links are found in the human brain, although we do not know
if there is individual variability between people." He said he did not believe
that a "love potion" for humans could emerge from his research. But he added
that it could help develop a treatment for autistic children who have difficulty
forming normal relationships with their parents.
David Nias, a clinical psychologist at London University, said that human
monogamy probably evolved as a means of providing a stable home that was vital
for survival. But modern Don Juans could still claim to be giving in to natural
urges, as Nias said most men feel the desire to be promiscuous.
Social pressures and experiences a person grows up with can also make a huge
difference to an individual's sexual behaviour, according to Janet Ribstein, a
Cambridge psychiatrist and author of a book dealing with relationships. Biology
is only part of the story. "Human beings have the capacity to be both
monogamous and adulterous," she said. "There is a great attachment that is made
at the beginning of a relationship, but warring with that is the observed need
in some people for sexual variety."
Copyright Montreal Gazette 1999
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