VOA慢速英语：爱情不过是大脑中的一种化学反应

Love: A Chemical Explosion in Your Brain

爱情不过是大脑中的一种化学反应

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道。

In the United States, February 14 is Valentine's Day -- a day to celebrate lovers and loving relationships. Images of red hearts are everywhere. Lovers say nice things to each other, like "I love you with all my heart" or "I love you heart and soul."

在美国，2月14日是情人节，庆祝恋人和爱情的日子。红色的爱心图像无处不在。恋人们相互说着甜言蜜语，类似说“我全身心地爱着你”或是“我全心全意爱着你”。

After all, many cultures view a big, beautiful, red heart as the traditional sign of love.

毕竟，很多文化都认为一颗大的、美丽的红心是爱情的传统标志。

But maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe the symbol of love should be a big, soft, gray brain. As it turns out, love is more an activity of the brain than an affair of the heart.

但是也许不应该是这样。也许爱的象征应该是一颗大的、柔和的、灰色的大脑。事实证明，爱情更多是一种大脑活动，而不是一种心灵事件。

Over the years, research has shown that love affects the brain in many ways and in a number of areas. Psychology Today magazine's online blog looked at some studies and noted the results.

多年来的研究表明，爱以多种方式和多个方面影响大脑。《今日心理学》杂志的博客关注了一些研究，并特别指出了研究结果。

The blog explains that researchers generally use a technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study the brain. This technology can follow movement of blood inside the brain.

这篇博客解释说，研究人员通常利用功能性磁共振成像(简称fMRI)技术来研究大脑。这种技术可以跟踪大脑内部的血液流动。

When a thought, substance, movement, or anything else activates a part of the brain, blood flow to that area increases. So, fMRIs can identify both the exact location in the brain and the amount of blood.

当思想、物质或运动等任何东西刺激到大脑的某个部分时，流向该区域的血流量会增加。因此，功能性磁共振成像可以确定确切的大脑位置和血流量。

The magazine reports that these love studies note something similar: that a brain on love looks a lot like a brain on drugs.

该杂志报道称，这些爱情研究注意到了类似的东西：热恋中的大脑看起来就像是吸毒的大脑。

In 2010, researchers at Syracuse University in New York state worked with other scientists in West Virginia and Switzerland.

2010年，纽约州雪城大学的研究人员同西弗吉尼亚州和瑞士的其他科学家进行了合作。

Syracuse professor Stephanie Ortigue led this study. Ortigue and her team found that falling in love created the same "euphoric feelings as using cocaine." They found that "12 areas of the brain work in tandem to release euphoric-inducing chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin" and adrenaline.

雪城大学教授斯蒂芬妮·奥蒂克(Stephanie Ortigue)主持了这项研究。奥蒂克和她的团队发现，陷入爱情创造了一种与吸食可卡因同等的愉悦感觉。他们发现，大脑的12个区域串联工作，释放出愉悦的诱导化学物质，例如多巴胺、催产素和肾上腺素。

When we are smitten with someone, chemicals such as adrenaline make our face turn red, our hands sweat and our heart beat faster.

当我们与某人交往时，肾上腺素之类的物质让我们脸红、手心出汗、心跳加速。

The website Health.com describes dopamine as the brain's pleasure chemical. It activates the reward circuit in our brain and plays a role in drug addiction and falling in love. Dopamine makes lovers feel happy and energetic about each other.

Health.com网站称多巴胺是大脑的快感化学物质。它会激活大脑的奖励循环，并在药物成瘾和坠入爱河中发挥作用。多巴胺让恋人们对彼此感觉到快乐和精力充沛。

Oxytocin is known as the "love hormone" because it deepens feelings of attachment. Oxytocin is the hormone that plays a role during pregnancy, nursing and in mother-baby attachment.

催产素被称为爱的荷尔蒙，因为它加深了依恋的感觉。催产素是一种在怀孕、哺乳和母婴依恋中起到作用的激素。

Ortigue's team also found that falling in love affected intellectual areas of the brain and not just the pleasure and reward center of the brain where drug habits may begin.

奥蒂克的团队还发现，陷入爱情会影响大脑的智力区域，而不仅仅是大脑的愉快和奖励中心，这里可能是药物成瘾的起始点。

As a side note, they also found that falling in love takes about "a fifth of a second."

顺便提一下，他们还发现陷入爱情只需要大约五分之一秒。

In 2012, researchers at Concordia University in Canada with teams in Switzerland and the United States looked at sexual desire, or lust, and long-term attachment, or love, more closely.

2012年，加拿大康考迪亚大学的研究人员同瑞士和美国的团队进一步关注了性欲和爱情。

They wanted to know if lust and love affected the brain differently.

他们想知道性欲和爱情对大脑的影响是否各异。

The researchers of this study asked the study subjects to look at sexy, erotic pictures of strangers and photographs of loved ones. Then the researchers recorded their brain activity with fMRIs. They found that love and lust activate "specific, but related areas of the brain."

这项研究的研究人员要求研究对象查看陌生人的性感照片以及爱人的照片。然后研究人员用功能性磁共振成像来记录他们的大脑活动。他们发现，爱情和性欲激活了特定但又相关的大脑区域。

What they found, for the most part, is that sexual desire and love seem to affect two parts of the brain the most: the insula and the striatum. It's no surprise that they found these are also parts of the brain most often affected by drug use.

他们发现，大多数情况下，性欲和爱情似乎更多影响大脑的两个区域：脑岛和纹状体。毫不奇怪，他们发现这也是大脑受吸毒影响最多的区域。

But now, let's get back to lust versus love.

但是现在，让我们继续说性欲和爱情。

Lustful, sexual desires begin in the pleasure center of the striatum. As these feelings develop into attachment love, they appear to still be processed in the striatum but in a different area. This area is activated by love. And it is involved in the process of giving value to things that give us pleasure, like food, sex and drugs.

性欲始于大脑纹状体的愉悦中心。当这些感觉发展成爱恋时，它们似乎仍然在纹状体中处理，只是区域不同。该区域是被爱情激活的。它还参与到重视那些给我们带来欢愉的东西的过程中，例如食品、性以及毒品。

Jim Pfaus of Concordia was the lead writer of a report on that study. He told Psychology Today that, "Love is actually a habit that is formed from sexual desire as desire is rewarded. It works the same way in the brain as when people become addicted to drugs."

康考迪亚大学的吉姆·普奥斯(Jim Pfaus)是关于这项研究的一份研究报告的主要作者。他对《今日心理学》杂志表示，“爱情实际上是一种性欲中形成的习惯，因为欲望得到了回报。它在大脑中的工作原理跟人们对毒品上瘾一样。

So, if you celebrate Valentine's Day remember that your feelings of love are really a complicated chemical reaction happening in your brain -- which if you like science -- is actually kind of sexy.

因此，如果你庆祝情人节，记住你对爱情的感觉是一种发生在大脑中的复杂的化学反应，实际上是一种性兴奋。

However, if your partner isn't so scientifically-minded, maybe keep the science to yourself and instead give them a gift of flowers or chocolate this Valentine's Day.

然而，如果你的伴侣不那么具有科学头脑，也许这个情人节你要把这份科学留给自己，而给她们送上一份鲜花或巧克力。

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report. I'm Anna Matteo.

以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道的全部内容。我是安娜·马特奥。