Finding the perfect partner may soon be as easy as sharing a little love potion cocktail with some random guy at a bar. Scientists have identified two hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin — the hormones released during sex — that make us feel bonded to another person. Tests in sheep found that a single injection of oxytocin was enough to make a mama lamb form an immediate bond with baby lambs that were not her own. Such research suggests that love could be nothing more than a “cocktail of brain chemicals.” The idea that chemistry matters way more in the search for love than, say, common interests and mutual attraction “raises important issues for society,” according to Larry Young, an expert in the neuroscience of social bonding. “For one thing, drugs that manipulate brain systems at whim to enhance or diminish our love for another may not be far away.” As a result, Young says, “It won’t be long before an unscrupulous suitor could slip a pharmaceutical love potion in our drink.” Theoretically, the same love potion could be given to couples who want to “rekindle faded passions or diminish problematic feelings.” Sure beats spending thousands of bucks on a marriage counselor, right? [Guardian.co.uk]
