Regards, Ivan
Posted on 02/12/2005 4:50:36 PM PST by MadIvan
PEOPLE who feel compelled to behave irrationally on Valentine’s Day tomorrow may not entirely be to blame for their actions. Scientists have found evidence that love really is blind.
Scans of lovers’ brains show that they lose their critical faculties when smitten, making them less able to spot flaws or potential problems.
The blackout could be the reason lovers are said to behave impulsively and why incompatible couples make whirlwind marriages they later regret.
Professor Semir Zeki of University College London has been studying lovers’ brain scans and will present a paper on the research later this year. “The scanning shows that love activates specific regions in the reward system of the brain, while reducing activity in the systems involved in making negative judgments,” he said.
“Our research shows that the brain deactivates the networks used for critical social assessment and negative emotions while it bonds individuals through the reward circuitry. This explains the power of love to motivate and exhilarate.”
The scans showed that, in people involved in romantic relationships, the most activated parts of the brain were those which respond to oxytocin and vasopressin, hormones involved in the forming and maintaining of relationships.
Just which neurochemical suppresses areas of the brain responsible for critical judgments is not clear, although dopamine is a suspect.
Phillip Hodson, a relationship counsellor and author of How to Make Great Love to a Woman and How Perfect Is Your Partner? warns lovers against acting impulsively during the passionate first stages of a romance.
“People should not take any major life decisions when they are in this giddy state of love. People end other perfectly good relationships, they chuck in their marriage to run off with a Gambian beachcomber.”
This recklessness has been seen in celebrity marriages. The singer Britney Spears decided to wed her old friend Jason Alexander after a drinking spree, only to have their union annulled 55 hours later.
Hodson says: “I would advise people to enjoy their love affair knowing that this isn’t going to happen more than two or three times in a lifetime but they should realise it is akin to being mad. You become deranged and lose your ability to reason.”
The consequences of letting passion override rational judgment has been a common theme in literature. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, for example, Malvolio is persuaded to grin continuously and wear ridiculous cross-garters after he is conned into thinking that it is the wish of his beloved.
The scientists, however, do believe the suppression of critical judgment may have a useful purpose as it helps relationships to get started.
Professor Pamela Regan of California State University said: “If you don’t sweep away the person’s flaws to some extent, you’re likely to end a relationship.”
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
"People who feel compelled to behave irrationally on Valentine’s Day tomorrow may not entirely be to blame for their actions."
Yay!!! Another story that that beats the psychobabble drum that people aren't responsible for their behavior and have little control of themselves!
I thought this was a thread about Prince Charles...
I was waiting for someone to say that. :)
Regards, Ivan
BTW, Camilla killed Princess Di. I could bore you with details of my conspiracy theory, or you could just accept it on blind faith. Many people who don't even know me have already chosen the second option.
Evidently this bloke gets payed for this kind of crap studies. Who and why in hell wants to know this stuff, and why do they pay jerks to supposedly find out? I want a freakin' gubbmint grant to study the brain functions of "artists" and their supporters who think a crucifix in a bottle of urine is art. I want a gubbmint grant to study the brain functions of freakin' marxist members of our gubbmint who want to enslave me and all with their crazyassed ideas! JHC, just give me a gubbmint grant to study my own ass to find out why I sit on it.
FMCDH(BITS)
Madly in love ..........
That's the O and the V. What are the L and the E?
I'm not so sure this is psychobabble. Doesn't everyone get giddy and high as a kite when they first fall in love? The good doc is warning not to make decisions in that state, which is really good advice.
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
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