Credits: Social Media
New research explains why you lust over some people more than others
New research has shed light on why, as humans, we are more attached and lustful to some people rather than others.�
Its estimated that only 3% to 5% of mammals form monogamous bonds, with humans among them. Most other mammals are out playing the field, but new scientific research from the University of Colorado Boulder has offered a new perspective on why humans crave that attachment.
They tested their theories on voles
In a brand new study published in the Current Biology journal,� associate Professor Zoe Donaldson and her team offered new insight into the way the human brain works when it comes to relationships.�
Their study was conducted on prairie voles, which like humans form intense monogamous bonds with one another. They build homes, raise offspring together and can even experience an innate grief if they lose their partners.
Using neuroimaging technology, the team was able to see that dopamine levels in the brain spiked when they tried to get to their significant other.�
As humans, our entire social world is basically defined by different degrees of selective desire to interact with different people, whether its your romantic partner or your close friends, said Professor Donaldson. This research suggests that certain people leave a unique chemical imprint on our brain that drives us to maintain these bonds over time.
This imagery, which is said to have lit up like a rave , continued as the voles snuggled and interacted. However, when faced with a stranger, the dopamine levels dropped.
Anne Pierce, the first author of the study, said: This suggests that not only is dopamine really important for motivating us to seek out our partner, but theres actually more dopamine coursing through our reward center when we are with our partner than when we are with a stranger.
They found out more when separating the voles
When the test subjects were reintroduced after being separated for a period of four weeks, the scientists found that the dopamine levels did not return to the previous, rave-like illumination.
Professor Donaldson concluded: We think of this as sort of a reset within the brain that allows the animal to now go on and potentially form a new bond.
The hope is that by understanding what healthy bonds look like within the brain, we can begin to identify new therapies to help the many people with mental illnesses that affect their social world.
While the authors said that this is only a first step in better understanding the connection between dopamine and lasting love, its certainly an interesting find!
