BBC 6分钟英语 恋爱的科学

From BBC learning english com. Hello.

This is six minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil, and I'm Beth. Head over heels, butterflies in the tummy,

the apple of my eye. In the English there are many idioms to describe what it feels like to fall in love.

Ah, I didn't know you were such a romantic nail.

But do you know what's actually happening in our brains when we fall in love?

Because I'm sorry to say this neal, but it's more about brain chemistry than romance, specifically, hormones, chemical messengers, which the body releases into the blood to control our growth, mood and, yes, falling in love.

Thanks for ruining my romantic ideas, beth.

And since my dreams are now shattered, why don't we spend the rest of this program finding out exactly what is going on inside our bodies and brains when we fall in love, and of course, learn some useful new vocabulary too.

There's no doubt that being in love has the health benefit of reducing stress, even lengthening your life.

But the hormones which the brain releases have an immediate effect as well.

So chemically speaking, what happens when lovers look into each other's eyes?

Is it A their body temperature increases.

B their heartbeats harmonize, or, say, the has stand up on the back of their neck.

Is it all three? No. Okay, then I'll guess it's B Their heartbeats harmonize.

OK we'll find out if that's correct at the end of the program.

According to Helen e Fisher, self help author and anthropologist at ruka's University, there are three aspects of romantic love.

Here's BBC ideas to explain More Often, loss comes 1st, but not always.

For some people who are asexual, it may not happen at all, but for those who do experience lust, it's driven by the hormones estrogen and testosterone.

It may feel purely carnal, but in fact, it's about the urge to mate and pass on your DNA via offspring.

Without last it's fair to say our species would not survive.

Helen Fisher thinks the 1st aspect of love is purely physical lust, the strong feeling of sexual desire for someone.

Lust is driven by the hormones estrogen in women and testosterone in men.

A few people are asexual, meaning they don't feel sexual attraction for anyone of any gender.

Lust is hard wired into us through our DNA, and it drives us to have children.

Helen thinks it's fair to say that without lust, our species would not survive.

Here, she uses the phrase it's fair to say to introduce an idea she believes to be true and reasonable.

Of course, love is not just physical.

Here's BBC ideas again to introduce Helen fisher's 2nd aspect of love, attraction.

The 2nd aspect of romantic love is attraction influenced by a neurotransmitter called dopamine.

This is a feel good substance released in our brain that is involved in driving us towards reward.

Do something, get a dopamine head, feel good.

Eventually, dopamine will push us towards repeating that behavior.

This is why intense attraction feels like an addiction to another human being, that some people get stuck in that loop.

Or was chasing the dopamine soaked excitement of a new relationship.

This time, the hormone responsible is the dopamine, a neurotransmitter that rewards our attraction to some one with pleasurable feelings.

That's why dopamine is called a feel good substance.

The adjective feel good can be used to describe anything causing happy and optimistic feelings about life, things like feel good films or feel good music.

Here, though, there's a downside. The dopamine hit of sexual attraction feels so good we crave it more and more.

Some people are always chasing the next relationship to get a new hit of pleasure, and soon become stuck in a loop an idio, meaning they're unable to break the habit of repeating the same patterns of behavior over and over again.

It's fascinating to see the power which hormones have over us.

But if you're an old fashioned romantic like Neil, don't despair.

And speaking as a romantic, how about the answer to my question?

Right? You ask me about the effect on the body?

When two lovers looked deep into each other's eyes, I guessed it was that their heart beats harmonize, which

was the correct answer. In experiments, looking into

the eyes produced hormones, causing couples hearts to beat in time.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we blunt in this program, starting with the idiom head over heels to be completely in love with someone.

Lust

is a very strong feeling of sexual desire.

Someone who is asexual does not feel sexual attraction towards anyone of any gender.

The phrase, it's fair to say, is used to introduce a statement you believe to be true and reasonable.

The adjective feel good describes something which makes people feel happy and optimistic.

And finally, the idiom stuck in a loop describe someone unable to break the habit of repeating the same negative patterns of behavior over and over again.

Once again, our 6 min are up, but remember to join us again next time for more topical discussion and useful vocabulary.

Here at Six Minute English. Goodbye for now.

Bye. 6 min English from BBC learning English dot com.

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