Scientists can take the fun out of anything

As a scientist, I like to be able to explain the world around me. To understand the physical principles and why things work the way they do. This article was on cnn.com today. The highlights:

While being scanned, the students looked at a photo of their beloved. The scientists found that the caudate area of the brain -- which is involved in cravings -- became very active. Another area that lit up: the ventral tegmental, which produces dopamine, a powerful neurotransmitter that affects pleasure and motivation.

Dr. Brown said scientists believe that when you fall in love, the ventral tegmental floods the caudate with dopamine. The caudate then sends signals for more dopamine.

"The more dopamine you get, the more of a high you feel," Dr. Brown says.

Or as her colleague, Dr. Helen Fisher put it: When you fall in love, "exactly the same system becomes active as when you take cocaine. You can feel intense elation when you're in love. You can feel intense elation when you're high on cocaine."

Love is like cocaine? Yea, I don't think they are equivalent. It goes on to say:

In the end, Drs. Fisher and Brown say what they learned from lovers' brains is that romantic love isn't really an emotion -- it's a drive that's based deep within our brains, right alongside our urges to find food and water.

"This helps explain why we do crazy things for love," says Dr. Brown. "Why did Edward VIII give up the throne for Wallis Simpson? The systems that are built into us to find food and water are the things that were also active when he renounced the throne of England."

Now their research is centered on the flip side of love. They've recruited college students who'd just been rejected by their sweethearts. Again, the scientists performed MRI's while these students looked at photos of the objects of their affection.

This time, the results were different, Dr. Brown says. The insular cortex, the part of the brain that experiences physical pain, became very active.

"People came out of the machine crying," she said. "We won't be doing that experiment again for a long time."

I like the experiment where they make people cry. As scientists we do not inflict enough pain on the populace. Thanks for taking all the mystery out of it, jerks. Sometimes it is a little nice not knowing. This reminded me of the chemical that follows "infatuation." It is very elevated in that initial part of a relationship, then it decreases. There was also that other study where they performed MRI measurements on people while they were having sex. I am not sure how that worked out.

Where have I lived? Part IX

I never lived here, but I did work here - the Kenan Memorial Laboratories of Chemistry. I went to graduate school here, and got my Ph.D. in Chemistry under the direction of R. Mark Wightman. I don't think I need to say more. I miss this place sometimes.

Where have I lived? Part VIII

616 S. Hibbard Drive, Apartment C is where I lived for about a year. It was a very good year. This was married student housing at North Carolina - great location! This apartment was the best designed apartment I have ever lived in. It was not the prettiest; it had cinder-block walls, and no central air, but I still loved it. Most people around us were Asian or Mormon, which was interesting. You could line-dry your clothes, and there was a community service room. I would say I was probably the happiest I have ever been in my life when I lived here. It is funny to look back at your past and see what you really had.