The science of love When do you know if you fancy someone? What does love do to your brain chemicals, and is falling in love just nature's way to keep our species alive? We call it love. It feels like love. But the most exhilarating of all human emotions is probably nature’s beautiful way of keeping the human species alive and reproducing. With an irresistible cocktail of chemicals, our brain entices us to fall in love. We believe we’re choosing a partner. But we may merely be the happy victims of nature’s lovely plan. | | It’s not what you say...Psychologists have shown it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you fancy someone.Research has shown this has little to do with what is said, rather * 55% is through body …show more content…
Mating between prairie voles is a tremendous 24-hour effort. After this, they bond for life. They prefer to spend time with each other, groom each other for hours on end and nest together. They avoid meeting other potential mates. The male becomes an aggressive guard of the female. And when their pups are born, they become affectionate and attentive parents. However, another vole, a close relative called the montane vole, has no interest in partnership beyond one-night-stand sex. What is intriguing is that these vast differences in behaviour are the result of a mere handful of genes. The two vole species are more than 99% alike, genetically.
Why do voles fall in love?
The details of what is going on — the vole story, as it were — is a fascinating one. When prairie voles have sex, two hormones called oxytocin and vasopressin are released. If the release of these hormones is blocked, prairie-voles' sex becomes a fleeting affair, like that normally enjoyed by their rakish montane cousins. Conversely, if prairie voles are given an injection of the hormones, but prevented from having sex, they will still form a preference for their chosen partner. In other words, researchers can make prairie voles fall in love — or whatever the vole equivalent of this is — with an injection.
A clue to what is happening — and how these results might bear on the human condition — was found when this magic juice was given to the montane vole: it made no difference. It
The article '' love: the right chemistry'' by Anastasia Toufexis efforts to explain the concept of love from a scientific aspect in which an amateur will understand. Briefly this essay explains and describe in a scientific way how people's stimulation of the body works when you're falling in love. The new scientific researches have given the answer through human physiology how genes behave when your feelings for example get swept away. The justification for this is explained by how the brain gets flooded by chemicals. The author expresses in one point that love isn't just a nonsense behavior nor a feeling that exhibits similar properties as of a narcotic drug. This is brought about by an organized chemical chain who controls different
In insect species with indirect sperm transfer, sperm is packed in a spermatophore that is either externally attached to the female 's genital opening or introduced into her bursa copulatrix. Sperm transfer is not immediate in these species, and consequently mate guarding has been suggested to function as a mechanism of guarding sperm until it is released from the spermatophore into the female (i.e. spermatophore guarding). Spermatophore guarding is relatively common in insect species with external spermatophores (e.g. Orthoptera; Alcock 1994; Simmons 2001), but supposedly absent in species with internal spermatophores and rapid sperm release (Simmons 2001). This study focuses on two hypothesis associated with mate guarding a tactic of many species that adjust their reproductive behaviour according to the apparent risk of sperm competition. The phenomenon of mate guard to consider sperm competition levels and evolution of internal spermatophore guard is wide spread in insects and other animals. We analyse two hypothesis one the rival exclusion followed by the next spermatophore renewal hypothesis. Results showed that as rival was introduced to the arena of mating of the distinctive original male (guard) in many cases showed a strong aggressive behaviour regardless of whether successively avert the rival. In the second hypothesis certainly majority of the incidents showed an attempt of
Judson contributes to onefs understanding of sex among different organisms in that she makes difficult concepts simple to comprehend. Although she uses scientific terminology, she limits it so that anyone can understand the technical information she shares. Judson also describes the types of environments in which each species and
Judson, an evolutionary biologist, portrayed as Dr. Tatiana, a sex columnist, cleverly conveys mind-boggling facts about an array of creatures within the animal kingdom using a satirical approach. “I am a queen bee, and I’m worried. All my lovers leave their genitals inside me then drop dead. Is this normal?” writes a concerned honeybee in regards to the sexual practices of her mate’s. Dr. Tatiana goes on to show understanding for the honeybees concern and explains just why her mates do what they do. As a reader, one gains intriguing information on the sexual idiosyncrasy of honeybees. The author achieves her overall goal of informing the reader of sexual biology by addressing the issue on a personal level, making a claim. Then following up with facts that support the claim.
The author Julianna Kettlewell, a BBC News Online science staff member, uploaded an article on Wednesday June 16, 2004 which gives us information on how a new gene can alter the Don Juan of voles to go from not caring for their wives or children to an excellent home-loving husband. She describes how a new gene called vasopressin boosts pair-bonding in voles. Before this experiment, the prairie voles would not have sentimental relationships with their partners and have multiple partners at once, likely due to the fact that scientists found that the voles had little vasopressin (V1a) receptors in their forebrain, known as the ventral pallidum region. Scientists hypothesized that if they would inject these vasopressin hormones into the forebrain section they would get a “taming” effect and make a loving husband.
Between sexes oxytocin and vasopressin has shown a dimorphic representation. In females, oxytocin is involved in social-sexual behaviours, sexual intercourse, childbirth, lactation maternal attachment and pair bonding (Stoop, 2012). In contrast, vasopressin is identified in male reproduction including erections and ejaculation. Vasopressin occurred in typical male behaviours such as territorial possession, aggression, and bonding and identified across species including humans, rabbits and rats.
Sexual selection relies one one’s ability to find and attract a mate. This task is accomplished by using a number of sensory systems. Males and females produce signals such as pheromones, mating calls, or nuptial colors. Once produced, a mate reacts to the signal using other sensory signals such as olfaction, hearing, or vision. The success of mating relies directly on each organism’s ability to send and receive these signals. The sexual selection theory predicts a tight coupling between the evolution of sexual displays and the sensory capabilities of the receiver (kirk). Additionally, mating signals are crucial not only in potential mates, but also against competitors. It is critical for males and females to be able to detect the presence
The objective of this study was to determine the reproductive success of the five different mating strategies used in one population of side-blotched lizards. Each mating strategy is associated with a phenotypic trait.
Reproduction is critical when ensuring the survival of a species. As was mentioned in The Trails of Life, an organism’s main goal is to ensure that they pass along their genes to future generations. As it is, the process of reproduction is a costly and sometimes dangerous feat. Nature provides a plethora of issues that need to be overcome before an individual can successfully reproduce. Difficulties can, and often do, arise in nearly every stage of reproduction. Organisms may have to battle inauspicious environmental conditions, lack of resources, or physiological shortcomings, to name a few of the nearly inexhaustive list of issues surrounding reproduction. Although problems with reproduction exist, nature has evolved responses to cope with specific issues, allotting organisms with methods
The team then put two-female pairs into pheromone-infused courtship water; some pairs consisted of two alpine newts, other pairs had one female of each species. If the water contained pheromones from a male of her species, the female would desperately try to court the other female. In some cases, two female alpine newts tried to follow each other, resulting in the pair circling one another. In some two-species trials, one female chased after another, even as the unreceptive partner tried to escape the container. [See video of the sex-crazed newts]
Till today, it is unknown why females of many species mate with multiple males when mating has been proven to be costly and a single copulation more times than not, proved to be enough to fertilize all of a female’s eggs. In this experiment, researchers are looking into this trend by examining the driving forces behind the origin and maintenance of polyandry in female Drosophila pseudoobscura by analyzing the cost and benefits of direct fitness of the fly’s offspring. It is believed that polyandry may benefit females by increasing the fitness of their offspring, allowing females to take control of paternity throughout sperm competition, and creating a correlation between male fitness and sperm competitive ability which is ultimately reinforced
Female A.domesticus have also been observed to choose their mate based on their own predation risk (Hedrick, 1999). Increased chirping frequency and minimal latency is preferred by female A.domesticus, however, there is a high chance that the male cricket would provide locational information to possible predators (Hedrick, 1999). Thus males must regulate their calling latency and frequency to optimise reproductive attraction and success, while maintaining safety. According to Hardy & Shaw (1983), A.domesticus are able to differentiate genders via bodily contact and pheromones, and do not need to rely on calls to attract conspecific females.
The concept of sexual selection within the biological processes is driven by various factors as female and male organisms rely on multiple characteristics before engaging in the process of copulation (Kunz and Uhl 2015). For example, male and female species have set parameters, within which they consider mating such as morphological attributes, locating a suitable mate, external factors, food and dietary conditions etc. (Kunz and Uhl 2015). Moreover, the conception of change over time is highly evident within mating species as their drive determines the mating patterns carried out over a span of time (Kunz and Uhl 2015). Furthermore, considering the process of mating research and experimentation was performed in Germany on two species of Dwarf spiders in order to understand how limitations
Signals that can show the health history of an individual are considered long-term signals; where signals that show current health status are considered short-term signals (Scheuber et. al 2004). Immunity is how well an individual can prevent an illness or disease and can vary from individual to individual. An individual’s immunity can influence their health, however it is not always the factor selected for. These types of signals are frequently called unreliable because they often take advantage of receiver’s bias Candolin 2005). This means that more honest signals like those who indicate condition are more selected for, such as secondary sexual characteristics that can show degrees of parasite resistance (Howard and Minchelle 1990). The Contagion Indicator Hypothesis created by DJ Able (1996) proposes that “the degree of expression of variable male traits indicates a male’s intensity of associatively transmittable parasites, and thus the risk a choosing female and her offspring will acquire these parasites.” This means that a female would select a male that will improve her direct and indirect benefits from contacting parasites. This study will examine the influence of parasites on mating selection and signaling in the
My experiences throughout the theories and concepts of application of triangular of love theory is that my perspective of myself is that I am Eros, which I am romantic, and I am as well as Philia, which I have the love for my family and close friends, and my relationship with someone. I have the choice whether not to continue or to continue in the relationship, but I chose to continue, looking throughout the theory of love triangle. It gives me the understanding of how passion, intimacy and commitment exist. It existing made me know how and what I feel for a person. There are combinations of love on how I develop myself in the relationship, and towards that person.