(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2014 — Love has inspired timeless songs and sonnets — not to mention a few less-than-timeless romantic comedies. Now the chemistry of love is the subject of the latest episode of the American Chemical Society's Reactions YouTube series (formerly Bytesize Science). Just in time for Valentine's Day, the video is available at http://youtu.be/bp7Ydv5wAPk.
The video explains how feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and oxytocin fuel lifelong pair bonds in prairie voles, which — along with humans — are the mammalian kingdom's leading monogamists. "If you block oxytocin receptors, you can totally cut off that pair-bonding response," explains Abigail Marsh, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University. "People who excite romantic feelings in us also probably trigger increases in oxytocin, which results in an increase in dopamine, and then we find that person [to be] someone we want to stick with." In the video, Marsh also explains that addictive drugs affect the brain in ways similar to love — which helps explain the painful, withdrawal-like symptoms of heartbreak.
Subscribe to the series at youtube.com/ACSreactions, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos.
INFORMATION:
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Follow us: Twitter Facebook
The chemistry of love: Valentine's Day science from ACS Reactions
2014-02-10
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Sometimes the average just isn't good enough
2014-02-10
This news release is available in German. When averaging is good and when it's not
Usually averaging is a good thing that can make life a lot easier. For example, when you eat out with a group of friends and it comes to paying. If everyone had a meal and a drink and you split the bill total by the number of people, everyone will pay pretty close to what they would have paid for their individual meal and drink. However, if some people had a starter, a steak for main, a dessert and champagne while you had spaghetti and a soft drink, you will feel pretty much ripped ...
Oil composition boost makes hemp a cooking contender
2014-02-10
Scientists at the University of York today report the development of hemp plants with a dramatically increased content of oleic acid. The new oil profile results in an attractive cooking oil that is similar to olive oil in terms of fatty acid content having a much longer shelf life as well as greater heat tolerance and potentially more industrial applications.
Researchers in the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) in the Department of Biology at York say that high oleic acid varieties are a major step towards developing hemp as a commercially attractive break ...
New therapy for personality disorders proven more effective than other major treatments
2014-02-10
A large scale randomized control trial, just released in the American Journal of Psychiatry (the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association) shows Schema Therapy to be significantly more effective than two major alternative approaches to the treatment of a broad range of personality disorders (avoidant, obsessive compulsive, dependent, paranoid, histrionic, and narcissistic). Schema Therapy resulted in a higher rate of recovery, greater declines in depression, greater increases in general and social functioning and had a lower drop out rate. The results also ...
EHR-based screening program for AAA cuts the number of at-risk men by more than half
2014-02-10
PASADENA, CALIF., Feb. 10, 2014 — A screening program for abdominal aortic aneurysms, integrated into an electronic health record, dramatically reduced the number of unscreened at-risk men by more than 50 percent within 15 months, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the Journal of Vascular Surgery. An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in the aorta, which – if ruptured – can result in death. It is estimated that more than one million Americans are living with undiagnosed AAA, according to the Society for Vascular Surgery.
Since 2005, ...
Is height important in matters of the heart? New study says yes
2014-02-10
Is height important in matters of the heart? According to new research from Rice University and the University of North Texas, the height of a potential partner matters more to women than men, and mostly for femininity and protection.
The study, "Does Height Matter? An Examination of Height Preferences in Romantic Coupling," was conducted in two parts. Part one, which used data from the Yahoo! personal dating advertisements of 455 males (average height of 5 feet 8 inches and average age of 36 years) and 470 females (average height of 5 feet 4 inches and average age of ...
Keep romance alive with double dates
2014-02-10
Austin – February 10, 2014 – Going on a double date may be more effective at reigniting passion in your own relationship than the classic candlelit dinner for two. According to new research, striking up a friendship with another couple in which you discuss personal details of your life will bring you closer to your own partner.
"Passionate love is one of the first dimensions of love to decrease in couples over time as the newness of a relationship begins to wane," says Keith Welker, a doctoral student at Wayne State University. "Relationships have widely been thought ...
Study suggests ways to improve common furniture fire test
2014-02-10
The bench-scale test widely used to evaluate whether a burning cigarette will ignite upholstered furniture may underestimate the tendency of component materials to smolder when these materials are used in sofas and chairs supported by springs or cloth, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and American University researchers report in a new study.*
The study comes as regulations and methods for evaluating the likelihood that soft-furniture materials will ignite are undergoing scrutiny. In November 2013, California removed an open-flame test from its furniture ...
New pain target for bacterial infections
2014-02-10
Components in the outer wall of bacteria directly activate pain sensors, triggering immediate pain and inflammatory responses. This finding by a multinational team of researchers led by Professor Karel Talavera (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Professor Félix Viana (Institute of Neuroscience, Spain) sheds new light on pain associated with bacterial infections and reveals a new target for drugs designed to treat them.
Bacterial infections are a global health problem and their treatment remains a major challenge to modern medicine. Infections of Gram-negative bacteria, in particular, ...
Mechanism elucidated: How smell perception influences food intake
2014-02-10
In animals, as in humans, hunger mechanisms are known to stimulate food intake. Hunger triggers a set of mechanisms that encourage feeding, for example by increasing sensory perceptions such as the sense of smell. The researchers have now succeeded in revealing what links hunger and increased smell perception in the brain, and the resulting urge to eat.
The researchers have discovered how this mechanism is initiated in the endocannabinoid system in mice. This system interconnects receptors located in the brain and involved in different sensations such as euphoria, anxiety, ...
University clinical pharmacologist researching chronic lead intoxication in goats
2014-02-10
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The Nile is a river in Egypt. Sometimes that river is polluted with industrial waste, such as lead, which can cause detrimental effects on local sheep and goats via the water supply.
Kansas State University's Ronette Gehring is an associate professor of clinical pharmacology in the of anatomy and physiology department of the university's College of Veterinary Medicine. She has joined a team of researchers from Egypt, Jordan and the United States in evaluating the effect of chronic lead intoxication in goats. In December 2013, the researchers published ...