What's Love Got To Do With It?
Well, if you were to ask famous musician Tina Turner, she'd tell you "love is just a second hand emotion". What is love? Why does it make us act like complete baboons and like we've sniffed too much glue? Seriously, is love a genuine "feeling" or just a series of chemical reactions to another individual's pheromones and body language? How can we determine if it's love, lust or infatuation? Will it last?
Larry Young is a scientist at Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. In January of 2009 he wrote an article that suggests scientists "may soon be able to tie the emotion 'love' to a biochemical chain of events." (PBS) He further implies there may be a way to develop social enhancing drugs and compares it to the drugs used in depression and anxiety. It's definitely not a love potion but could be very beneficial for patients who need help in social settings such as people who suffer from autism. (PBS)
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| My son Victor |
Dr. Helen Fisher, PhD of Rutgers University published a study in 2002 about the chemical reactions on the brains of people in love. "Dr Fisher divides love into three categories involving different brain systems: 1) Lust (the craving for sexual gratification), driven by androgens and estrogens; 2) Attraction (or romantic or passionate love, characterized by euphoria when things are going well, terrible mood swings when they’re not, focused attention, obsessive thinking, and intense craving for the individual), driven by high dopamine and norepinephrine levels and low serotonin; and 3) Attachment (the sense of calm, peace, and stability one feels with a long-term partner) driven by the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin." (McNamany 2011).
Scientists are looking into creating different drugs with these various chemicals. To me this raises all types of concerns. What if it was used to gain trust of young girls or used to seduce someone....there are many scenarios where this could be very detrimental. I can sort of understand using oxytocin in cases of therapy for abused women to help them overcome their fears, but only under the supervision of a trusted physician.
I will be researching this topic in much greater detail but now I really am wondering what love has to do with it???
I will be researching this topic in much greater detail but now I really am wondering what love has to do with it???
Winerman, Lea. “Love is a Chemical Reaction, Scientists Find”. 2009. PBS Online NewsHour.
Retrieved on 17 April 2011 from: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/science/jan-june09/love_02-13.html
This is an article discussing the findings of a study by Dr. Larry Young, a neuroscientist. He studies at Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Alabama. Young did several studies using voles and the effects that injecting them with various chemicals such as oxytocin had.
Ghosh, Pallab. “Is love just a chemical cocktail?” BBC News online. 2009. Retrieved
On 15 April 2011 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7815095.stm
This link is to another story referencing the study by Dr. Young. Also quoted is Professor Nick Bostrom of Oxford University. The main discussion here is the ability to create a drug containing specific chemicals and pheromones to create the feeling of love. Also discussed is the option of creating an antidote as well if you fall for the wrong person.
Fisher, Helen. “I get a kick out of you”. 2004. Oxycotin.org online. Retrieved on 17 April, 2011
This is a link with an excerpt from the Economist quoting from oxytocin.org. The researcher Helen Fisher is from Rutgers University. Here she discusses three main stages of love: Lust, Romantic love and Long-term attachment. Also discussed is the comparison of the “love” chemicals, oxytocin and vasopressin to that of addictive drugs such as cocaine.
Elsevier. "Oxytocin: Love Potion #1? Human Hormone Increases Positive
Communication Between Couples." ScienceDaily, 3 May 2009. Retrieved on 17
April 2011 from:
This is a link to sciencedaily.com that discusses the positive communication between couples when given amounts of oxytocin vs. placebo. Information obtained from Swiss researchers published in Biological Psychiatry discusses the effects of the hormone on human couples. Doctor’s do make sure to note however that there needs to be extensive research still and express concerns of the development of a drug that could lead to social enhancement abuse.
McManamy, John. “The Brain in Love and Lust: Your second-favorite Organ may be the key
player” 2011. Retrieved on 17 April 2011 from: http://www.mcmanweb.com/love_lust.html
This is a link to an article by John McManamy who is an ”award-winning mental health journalist and author”. He reviews studies by Dr. Helen Fisher and several of her colleagues from a study on the biochemistry of love. Discussed here are the effects not only of oxytocin and vasopressin as love stimulators but also how dopamine and norepinephrine can interfere with those as well, therefore causing the highs and lows of being in love.
Blum, Deborah. “The Plunge of Pleasure”. 1997. Retrieved on April 28, 2011 from:
This is a link to an article in Psychology Today. It covers some of the facts found in Dr. Fisher’s research on the effects of dopamine in human emotions and feelings. Here the author discusses the chemicals responsible for the feel-good feelings such as infatuation, new love, joy, self-confidence and motivation.
Great blog. I can tell that you devoted alot of time into researching this interesting topic. I agree with you that I would in fact have concerns with this as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think as humans we can ever really explain what love is. Love is what our heavenly has for us and unless we allow God to live in us and work through us then I don't feel like we will ever experience "love".
I think that we give society enough medication as it is. I think behavioral therapy is a safer alternative than giving medication to alter a mood or emotion.
Great and interesting topic! Cute son~
What is love?...well, love is what it means. It is something that is in all of us. Whether we want it or not, LOVE was given to us as a gift from our creator. Who ever you think that is, that is where it comes from. Love is hard to see, hear and sometimes hard to feel. Love comes from the brain and is past through the body so fast that we sometimes miss the signs. When we get butterflies in our stomachs, it is LOVE that we are feeling. Our emotions are being processed by the brain and our body is just responding to what we "must" feel. Ever person feels love. It might be expressed differently, but it is still love.
ReplyDeleteWhat does love have to do with it? Everything... Love is always the first thing and the last thing we think.. It will be with us even after our bodies become dust. The human body has something called "soul" that is the natural state of love that all humans have. It is because of LOVE that we were created and it is LOVE that we will die one day. Hate, fear or even abuse could block the signs of love. But it still remains in us because we can not get rid of it. No matter what the situation, Love is Love. So wonderful and so powerful that we can't help but smile. So next time you see someone smile, know that it is love that they feel, and of course, you can't help but smile back... Love, so much of it is out in the world that we don't even understand it.
It is my belief that we are really screwing up our entire society by trying to mimic natural body chemicals by the use of “drugs”. Why do we see such high rates of autism, depression, all kinds of disorders today that we didn’t in the past. As a kid I am sure I would have been diagnosed with ADHD. I was very hyper and had some problems in school around the first and second grade. In today’s society I’m sure I would have been taken to the doctor and put on mood altering “drugs”. Instead, my parents gave me the attention that I needed, moved me to a better school, and focused my hyperactivity into positive ways. And guess what happened??? I GREW OUT OF IT, learned how to manage my attention in the proper way. I am a pilot today and I still get teased by some of my crew members about being “hyper” and always doing stuff in the cockpit on long flights. In fact, in the military I would have been medically disqualified from ever getting into flight school if I had been “diagnosed” with ADHD. Science is a very good thing and we have had many advancements in today’s world, but at what cost. It is my belief that people need to learn how to deal with their emotions, take responsibility for themselves, and quit relying on “manufactured drugs” for a quick fix.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting information. It was so informative to learn about the break down of different emotions associated with different stages of love. It is so amazing how this all works together, the brain; such a powerful instrument. We are wonderfully made!
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to break out of patterns of something that might have happened during the formative years; such as neglect. It takes lots of courage and hard work to retrain the mind and begin to live in a healthier way. I do think drugs has a purpose, but just for a time in someone's life. I don't think it is healthy to take medication forever; the root cause of the hurt needs to be uncovered and worked on.
We all want to feel better, but drugs can be a mask for some.
What a sweet picture of you and your son.