VOA慢速英語：愛情不過是大腦中的一種化學反應

Love: A Chemical Explosion in Your Brain

愛情不過是大腦中的一種化學反應

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

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康和生活方式報道。

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."

在美國，2月14日是情人節(jié)，慶祝戀人和愛情的日子。紅色的愛心圖像無處不在。戀人們相互說著甜言蜜語，類似說“我全身心地愛著你”或是“我全心全意愛著你”。

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

畢竟，很多文化都認為一顆大的、美麗的紅心是愛情的傳統(tǒng)標志。

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.

但是也許不應該是這樣。也許愛的象征應該是一顆大的、柔和的、灰色的大腦。事實證明，愛情更多是一種大腦活動，而不是一種心靈事件。

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.

多年來的研究表明，愛以多種方式和多個方面影響大腦?！督袢招睦韺W》雜志的博客關注了一些研究，并特別指出了研究結果。

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.

這篇博客解釋說，研究人員通常利用功能性磁共振成像(簡稱fMRI)技術來研究大腦。這種技術可以跟蹤大腦內部的血液流動。

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.

當思想、物質或運動等任何東西刺激到大腦的某個部分時，流向該區(qū)域的血流量會增加。因此，功能性磁共振成像可以確定確切的大腦位置和血流量。

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

該雜志報道稱，這些愛情研究注意到了類似的東西：熱戀中的大腦看起來就像是吸毒的大腦。

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

2010年，紐約州雪城大學的研究人員同西弗吉尼亞州和瑞士的其他科學家進行了合作。

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.

雪城大學教授斯蒂芬妮·奧蒂克(Stephanie Ortigue)主持了這項研究。奧蒂克和她的團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)，陷入愛情創(chuàng)造了一種與吸食可卡因同等的愉悅感覺。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，大腦的12個區(qū)域串聯(lián)工作，釋放出愉悅的誘導化學物質，例如多巴胺、催產素和腎上腺素。

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

當我們與某人交往時，腎上腺素之類的物質讓我們臉紅、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網站稱多巴胺是大腦的快感化學物質。它會激活大腦的獎勵循環(huán)，并在藥物成癮和墜入愛河中發(fā)揮作用。多巴胺讓戀人們對彼此感覺到快樂和精力充沛。

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.

催產素被稱為愛的荷爾蒙，因為它加深了依戀的感覺。催產素是一種在懷孕、哺乳和母嬰依戀中起到作用的激素。

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.

奧蒂克的團隊還發(fā)現(xiàn)，陷入愛情會影響大腦的智力區(qū)域，而不僅僅是大腦的愉快和獎勵中心，這里可能是藥物成癮的起始點。

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

順便提一下，他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)陷入愛情只需要大約五分之一秒。

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，加拿大康考迪亞大學的研究人員同瑞士和美國的團隊進一步關注了性欲和愛情。

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

他們想知道性欲和愛情對大腦的影響是否各異。

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."

這項研究的研究人員要求研究對象查看陌生人的性感照片以及愛人的照片。然后研究人員用功能性磁共振成像來記錄他們的大腦活動。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，愛情和性欲激活了特定但又相關的大腦區(qū)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.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，大多數(shù)情況下，性欲和愛情似乎更多影響大腦的兩個區(qū)域：腦島和紋狀體。毫不奇怪，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這也是大腦受吸毒影響最多的區(qū)域。

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

但是現(xiàn)在，讓我們繼續(xù)說性欲和愛情。

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.

性欲始于大腦紋狀體的愉悅中心。當這些感覺發(fā)展成愛戀時，它們似乎仍然在紋狀體中處理，只是區(qū)域不同。該區(qū)域是被愛情激活的。它還參與到重視那些給我們帶來歡愉的東西的過程中，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."

康考迪亞大學的吉姆·普奧斯(Jim Pfaus)是關于這項研究的一份研究報告的主要作者。他對《今日心理學》雜志表示，“愛情實際上是一種性欲中形成的習慣，因為欲望得到了回報。它在大腦中的工作原理跟人們對毒品上癮一樣。

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，如果你慶祝情人節(jié)，記住你對愛情的感覺是一種發(fā)生在大腦中的復雜的化學反應，實際上是一種性興奮。

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，如果你的伴侶不那么具有科學頭腦，也許這個情人節(jié)你要把這份科學留給自己，而給她們送上一份鮮花或巧克力。

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

以上就是本期美國之音慢速英語健康和生活方式報道的全部內容。我是安娜·馬特奧。