本帖最后由 StephenW 于 2011-2-18 06:56 编辑
Your Brain in Love Cupid's arrows, laced with neurotransmitters, find their marks February 14, 2011 | 13
Men and women can now thank a dozen brain regions for their romantic fervor. Researchers have revealed the fonts of desire by comparing functional MRI studies of people who indicated they were experiencing passionate love, maternal love or unconditional love. Together, the regions release neurotransmitters and other chemicals in the brain and blood that prompt greater euphoric sensations such as attraction and pleasure. Conversely, psychiatrists might someday help individuals who become dangerously depressed after a heartbreak by adjusting those chemicals.
Passion also heightens several cognitive functions, as the brain regions and chemicals surge. “It’s all about how that network interacts,” says Stephanie Ortigue, an assistant professor ofpsychology at Syracuse University, who led the study. The cognitivefunctions, in turn, “are triggers that fully activate the lovenetwork.” Tell that to your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day.
Graphics by James W. Lewis, West Virginia University (brain), and Jen Christiansen.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=your-brain-in-love-graphsci&WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20110217
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