Love Potions
So that’s why men are fascinated with breasts.
John Tierney wrote earlier this month in the New York Times about neuroscientist Larry Young’s work on the chemistry of love. As it turns out, Young’s work takes us back to the ever fascinating prairie vole, long a Love Dub favorite along with the dung beetle.
Prairie Voles, like (some) humans, have a tendency towards monogamy. Young found that when a female prairie vole’s brain was infused with oxytocin, she would immediately become attached to the nearest male. But block the effects of oxytocin, and forget about it, she was a bachelorette vole for life.
Young argues that if this holds up in humans, it would offer an evolutionary explanation for men’s fascination with the female breast. Breast stimulation leads to oxytocin release leads to desire to bond. This is the same circuit that leads to mother-baby bonding when oxytocin is released during labor and suckling.
For men, on the other hand, vasopressin is evidently more significant. Male voles, and indeed, male humans, with low vasopressin levels were less likely to mate/marry.
If you think about it, low vasopressin levels also lead to increased urination. So here at love dub we have developed a corollary theorem. Our theory is that those voles with low levels are peeing so often that they’re bound to leave the toilet seat up more frequently than the average vole, and as we all know that means no mate for you, mate.
Now I know what all of the men out there are thinking. You’re wondering if there is a cheap way to figure out your vasopressin level without having to get blood drawn at your doctor’s office. The answer is: absolutely. Here we go.
When you are apartment hunting and you find a place that you think is perfect but you can’t commit because your partner still has to see it and then you have to decide together if it’s the right place, do you think, “This is so wonderful, I love the fact that we operate in tandem like two synchronized swimmers chained at the ankle and I don’t care if we lose the place to another bidder.”? Or, do you think, “Son of Zeus! I can’t believe I might lose this place because my partner was too lazy to come out here today and made me do all the work of finding it, why can’t he/she just let me decide and be happy with it?!”? If the former, your vasopressin is high. If the latter, it’s low.
If you’re at a bar and a beautiful, witty, fun, intelligent man/woman comes up to you and asks for your number, do you think to yourself “Wow, that was a close one, I’m so glad I have an excuse to turn this person down! It would SUCK to go out with someone so fun and beautiful who is so into me! I have no desire to see where this might lead, phew!”? Or, do you think, “Son of Margarine! This person is amazing! We might be perfect for each other! But how will I ever know?”? If the former, your vasopressin is high. If the latter, it’s low.
And, finally, if you’re hanging out on a day off, enjoying a nice walk around town with your partner, and you get hungry and want to eat but your partner isn’t hungry yet do you think, “Bless this low blood sugar and the lightheadedness, nausea, and palpitations it is causing me for reminding me how much I love having to wait to eat until my partner is hungry too so that we can break bread together.”? Or, do you think, “By the tail of Triton I’m hungry! I could eat a 76 ounce steak AND a garden burger! I wish I had control of my own meal schedule again!”? If the former, your vasopressin is high. If the latter, it’s low.
So there you have it, folks. The Love Dub virtual assay for vasopressin levels. Use it wisely.
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Love Potions. Should have been called, Neurochemical Response.
I thought this was about love potions,not dung beetles and apartment hunting.Plus it was poorly written.Whatever it was about it SUCKED!!
@ yawn…
lol, not as poorly written as your comment. learn how to spell!
Poorly writen