博文
科学家探索“无私之爱”
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来自《泰晤士报》的报道：
Science unlocks secrets of our deepest love
THE secrets of unconditional love, one of the most mysterious emotions, are being uncovered by scientists tracing the unique brain activity it creates.
They have found that the emotion, experienced as a desire to care for another person without any thought of reward, emerges from a complex interplay between seven separate areas of the brain.
Such brain activity has only limited overlap with the cerebral impulses seen in romantic or sexual love, suggesting it should be seen as an entirely separate emotion.
Professor Mario Beauregard, of Montreal University’s centre for research into neurophysiology and cognition, who led the study, said: “Unconditional love, extended to others without exception, is considered to be one of the highest expressions of spirituality. “ However, nothing has been known regarding its neural underpinnings until now.”
Scientists are interested in unconditional love as evolutionary theory suggests we should feel such emotions only for people who help us pass our genes to future generations, such as spouses and children.
Our fascination with the many forms of love is reflected by Hollywood, with films such as War of the Worlds, where Tom Cruise’s character risks his life to save his estranged daughter. The unconditional love he displays contrasts with the obsessive sexual emotions in films such as Basic Instinct or the romantic love portrayed by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in the epic Australia.
In the real world, however, unconditional love is often experienced towards people with whom there is no connection. The question is: why? To carry out the study, Beauregard recruited subjects with a proven ability to feel strong unconditional love: low-paid assistants looking after people with learning difficulties. Beauregard asked them to evoke feelings of unconditional love and hold them in their minds while they had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
Of the seven brain areas that became active, three were similar to those of romantic love. The others were different, suggesting a separate kind of love.
Beauregard’s discoveries showed that some of the areas activated when experiencing unconditional love were also involved in releasing dopamine. This chemical is deeply involved in sensing pleasure, with rising levels strongly linked to feelings of reward and even euphoria.
In a research paper in an academic journal, he said: “The rewarding nature of unconditional love facilitates the creation of strong emotional links. Such robust bonds may critically contribute to the survival of the human species.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6078485.ece
中文版：
科学家探索“无私之爱”
通过跟踪无条件的爱所带来的独一无二的大脑活动，科学家们发现了这一最神奇感情的秘密。
他们发现，人们之所以会关心别人且不求任何回报，是大脑中7个部位之间复杂的相互作用的结果。
这种大脑活动，同爱情或性欲所带来的大脑活动相比，两者的相似点有限，从而说明这是一种完全不同的情绪。
蒙特利尔大学神经生理学与认知研究中心教授、该研究的带头人马里奥·博乐加德说：“向他人付出的无条件的爱被人们视作最高的精神表达形式之一。但目前人们还不了解形成这种感情的神经系统活动。”
科学家们之所以对这种无条件的爱感兴趣，是因为进化论认为，我们应该只会对帮助我们将基因遗传给后代的人产生这种感情，如我们的配偶和孩子。我们对各种形式的爱都很着迷，这点在好莱坞电影中有所体现。如在电影《世界大战》中，汤姆·克鲁斯扮演的角色甘冒生命危险来营救与自己疏远的女儿。这种无条件的爱与影片《本能》中的性欲之爱，或者妮可·基德曼和休·杰克曼在《澳洲乱世情》中展现的浪漫之爱形成鲜明对照。
而在现实生活中，人们经常会对自己毫无关系的人产生无条件的爱。为什么会这样呢？为开展这一研究，博乐加德寻找了一些可以感受到这种无条件的爱的人：他让一些助手照顾有学习障碍的人并发放微薄薪水。博乐加德让他们在心里唤起自己无条件的爱并维持这种感觉，同时利用核磁共振成像技术扫描其脑部。
在助手们观察到的7个变化得活跃的大脑部位中，有3个部位的活动与浪漫爱情带来的大脑活动相似。其余都不同，由此说明这种爱与众不同。
博乐加德的发现表明，在产生无条件的爱时，一些活跃的大脑部位也会释放多巴胺。人们的愉悦情绪与这种化学物质密切相关，多巴胺的增多会让人感觉得到了回报，甚至会有难以抑制的喜悦。博乐加德说：“无条件的爱的有益特性有助于建立牢固的情感纽带。这种强有力的联系也许对人类的繁衍生息有重大贡献。”
来源：《参考消息》
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-1953-226022.html
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