VOA标准英语2012--Love is a Matter of the Brain

Love is a Matter of the Brain

While our thoughts and emotions seem like invisible, intangible things, these internal states can be inferred by monitoring blood flow in different parts of our brain using advanced imaging techniques. 

Neuroscientist Lucy Brown conducted an experiment with 17 college students, who described themselves as being in the throes of new love. They were subjected to brain scans and asked to look at a picture of their beloved.

Without exception, the picture stimulated¹ heightened electrical activity in two key areas of the brain: the caudate nucleus² and ventral tegmental area. 

Brown – a professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine - says these two regions comprise the brain’s reward system. A primitive³ part of the organ also found in other mammals, it is more closely associated with the desire for food and water than with the sex drive.

"And this is the system that was active, to our amazement⁴, in the people who were in love,” she says.

Brown notes that this is the region of the brain that lights up during a cocaine⁵ high, and is responsible for the craving⁶ that drives cocaine addiction⁷. 

A similar mix of euphoria and longing⁸ is familiar to anyone who has ever been in love, which may help explain why romantic love is often a bittersweet experience.

“It’s not just euphoria," Brown says. "You can be anxious. You can actually get angry a little. But the key, the core that remains⁹, is this motivation toward the other person. That other person is a goal because they produce so much reward.”

When the brain’s reward system is aroused, it releases a neurotransmitter chemical called dopamine. Rutgers University anthropologist¹⁰ Helen Fisher, who worked with Brown on the brain imaging and love studies, says dopamine then spreads to other parts of the brain, each of which has its own function.

“As you reach for a piece of chocolate and want it, as you want to get a raise at work, as you want your child to do well in school, this brain system is being activated¹¹," Fisher says. "But it is being activated with a different combination of other parts of the brain, making the experience of wanting the chocolate different than the experience of wanting a sweetheart.”

According to Fisher, human courtship and pair bonding usually follow a distinct pattern. When a person first falls in love, everything about their beloved takes on special meaning.

"The car that they drive is different than every other car in the parking lot, the street they live on, what they wear, the music they like, the books they read. Everything about them is special – which by the way is an indication of the dopamine system in the brain.” 

Fisher explains that the dopamine rush often leads to an intense focus on the beloved. That, in turn, can lead to the emotional roller coaster ride that is a common feature of romantic love. 

“There is intense elation¹² when things are going well, mood swings into horrible despair when things are going poorly. And tremendous energy. You can walk all night and talk until dawn. There are all kind of physiological¹³ responses - butterflies in the stomach, a dry mouth when you talk to the person on the phone, intense possessiveness," she says. "In other words, the full constellation¹⁴ of personality traits that are linked with romantic love are special to that particular feeling, and the reward system is part of that experience.” 

Fisher offers a straightforward¹⁵ evolutionary¹⁶ reason why the drives to find sex, romance and long-term partnership¹⁷ can be so much more persistent¹⁸ and intense than most other human desires. 

“[Charles] Darwin said, ‘If you have four children and I have no children, you live on and I die out.’ So it’s not how much money you make. It’s not how good looking you are. It’s not even how smart you are. It’s how many children you have. How much of your own DNA¹⁹ you pass on to tomorrow," Fisher says. "So parts of the brain are simply built to go out and find a lot of different partners, focus on just one at a time, fall in love with that individual, attach, then remain attached at least long enough to raise a child through infancy²⁰ together as a team.”

This deep-seated link between love and survival explains our cultural pre-occupation with mating, for better and for worse. 

“People live for love; they sing for love; they dance for love; they compose all kinds of myths and legends for love. But they also kill for love and they die for love. So love is a tremendously powerful brain system. In fact, I’d call it an addiction - a perfectly²¹ wonderful addiction when it’s going well and a perfectly horrible addiction when it’s going poorly.”

And like any addiction, love can cloud our judgment²², lending credence²³ to the line in that old Elvis Presley song that when it comes to love, “only fools rush."

1 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

2 nucleus   

n.核，核心，原子核

参考例句：

• These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
• These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。

3 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

4 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

5 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

6 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

11 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

12 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。

13 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

14 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

15 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

16 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

17 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

18 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

19 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

20 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

21 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

22 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

23 credence   

n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证

参考例句：

• Don't give credence to all the gossip you hear.不要相信你听到的闲话。
• Police attach credence to the report of an unnamed bystander.警方认为一位不知姓名的目击者的报告很有用。