Mar 01, 2009 12:26 AM
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Pop a love pill, and you are on. And pop an anti-love pill, you are done - without any lingering emotions.
Scientists say it will soon be possible to fall in and out of love at whim - just like hopping into a bus and then getting off two stops later.
They say that since falling in love is merely a chemical reaction in the human brain, a love pill may be invented soon to trigger this chemical reaction to make people in love.
And then there could be an anti-love pill to make people fall out of love. According to an American neuro-scientist, researchers may soon find the right kind of chemical mixture to help people fall in and out of love.
Larry Young of Atlanta's Emory University School of Medicine told atelevision network at the weekend that researchers may soon be able to show that emotions such as love are directly triggered by bio chemical events in the human brain.
Hesaid his research into prairie voles - which are short-tailed, mouse-like animals found in the prairies(fertile plains) of the US and Canada - has shown that sexual bonding can be triggered and blocked bythe addition or subtraction of certain chemicals to the brain.
"(Thevoles) are monogamous. That is, they form a life-long bond with apartner. We have been studying the chemistry behind that, " he said.
Butwhen Young injected the chemical(hormone) oxytocin into the brain of afemale prairie vole, she quickly abandoned her monogamy and fell forthe nearest male.
But when the chemical hormone to her brain was stopped, her bonding with the new mate was over.
Accordingto Young, "The hormone interacts with the reward and reinforcementsystem driven by the neurotransmitter dopamine - the same circuitrythat drugs such as nicotine, cocaine and heroine act on in humans toproduce euphoria and addiction."
Thehappy news, said Young, is that his research has shown that "there isan overlap between the brain areas involved in vole bonding and thoseassociated with human love.
"What's more, the chemical oxytocin, which was observed to trigger bonding in voles, also changes human behaviour.
"Peoplewho inhale oxytocin become more trusting . They engage in more eyecontact .(It) tunes them into the social world. Dopamine gives us areward, so you feel good."
Creatinga cocktail of these two chemicals(oxytocin and dopamine) in the formof a love pill could create an attraction between two people, he said.
But if attraction could be chemically induced, he added, the opposite was also possible in the form of anti-love pills.
"Youcould block those chemicals when you're around this person. All drugsare just mimicking or blocking our own natural brain chemistry, " Youngsaid.
He said these chemical cocktails could help countless couples who spend huge amounts of money on marital therapy in future.
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