The new issue of Nature talks about a neuroscientist who analyzed the brain chemistry of mammalian pair bonding. It won’t be long before an unscrupulous suitor could sneak a pharmaceutical love potion into your drink. Another reason to avoid the bar scene.
When a female prairie vole’s brain is artificially infused with oxytocin, a hormone that produces some of the same neural rewards as nicotine and cocaine, she’ll quickly become attached to the nearest male.
A related hormone, vasopressin, creates urges for bonding and nesting when it is injected in male voles (or naturally activated by sex). After Dr. Young found that male voles with a genetically limited vasopressin response were less likely to find mates, Swedish researchers reported that men with a similar genetic tendency were less likely to get married.
Male’s erotic fascination with breasts is explained, finally!
The accompanying blog post at the NYT links to a paper by Helen Fisher, who is keynoting the iDate conference in Miami next week. She says that there are already pharmaceutical tricks for protecting yourself against unwanted infatuation and attachment. Who knew?
Via the New York Times.
