爱只是一种化学反应吗?

爱只是一种化学反应吗?

People who are in love have higher levels of several key hormones. For example, oxytocin and vasopressin – two hormones produced in a region of the brain called the hypothalamus – cause stronger feelings of attachment.

恋爱中的人体内的几种关键激素水平较高。例如，催产素和垂体后叶加压素——这两种激素产生于大脑的下丘脑区域——会产生更强烈的依恋感。

The development of hormones that encourage us to form committed relationships makes sense from an evolutionary perspective: our ancestors would have been more likely to successfully raise, feed and protect their children if both parents worked together. But does this mean that love is just a chemical trick being played on our brains?

从进化的角度来看，荷尔蒙的发展会鼓励我们建立忠诚的关系，这是有道理的：如果父母双方共同努力，我们的祖先更有可能成功地养育、喂养和保护他们的孩子。但这是否意味着爱只是我们大脑中的一个化学把戏呢?

Oxytocin has been shown to increase the amount of time you spend gazing into the eyes of your loved one, and it also boosts your ability to read someone’s emotions. Some perfume manufacturers have tried to exploit this by adding oxytocin to their scents, but the dosage is too low to have any effect.

催产素已经被证明能增加你凝视爱人的时间，也能提高你解读他人情绪的能力。一些香水制造商试图利用这一点，在香水中加入催产素，但剂量太低，没有任何效果。

It’s possible that a more thorough understanding of the way different hormones interact may eventually allow us to create a potion that increases our chances of falling in love. But things like shared history, values and cultural reference points also play a part in whether we fall in love, and these things aren’t directly controlled by our hormones.

有可能，对不同激素相互作用方式的更透彻的了解最终会让我们创造出一种药水，增加我们坠入爱河的机会。但是，共同的历史、价值观和文化参照点也在我们是否坠入爱河中起着一定的作用，而这些都不是由我们的荷尔蒙直接控制的。