[love] Proof´s in the brain scan: Romance can last

有人说，爱情难过七年之痒，有人说，浪漫只能持续两到三年，因为浪漫是化学物质。果真如此么？爱情当真没有保质期么？

--- 期待浪漫永恒的小编

Sunday, November 16, 2008 7:06 PM 


  The honeymoon doesn't have to be over just because you've been together for years, new research suggests.

Popular wisdom would have it that romance fades over time. But new brain scans (扫描) of people who say they are still in love after decades of marriage are similar to scans of those who have just fallen in love, leading researchers to conclude that long-term relationships can be just as passionate and romantic as new love.

``We're confident it's real,'' says psychologist Arthur Aron of the State University of New York-Stony Brook, one of the researchers involved in the study. ''That's what the brain scans are telling us. People can't fake (伪造，假造) that.''

The study, presented Sunday at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C., represents a dramatic shift in thinking. Other research ``always suggested romantic love is over by 12 to 15 months. This suggests that may not have to be the case,'' says Richmond Thompson, associate professor of psychology (心理学) and neuroscience at Bowdoin College, who wasn't involved in the study.

Scientists used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI:　核磁共振成像) (fMRI) to scan the brains of 10 women and seven men who said they were still intensely in love after an average 21 years of marriage. When they viewed photos of their partners, their brains reacted.

''If you ask people around the world whether romantic love can last, they'll roll their eyes and say 'probably not,' and most textbooks say that, too. We're proving them wrong,'' says anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University, a co-author.

Lead author Bianca Acevedo, who has worked with Aron and now works with neuroscientist and study co-author Lucy Brown of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., says the findings are similar to earlier research they did on 10 women and seven men who had fallen in love within the previous year.

Findings show long-term relationships don't have the obsession　(着魔，迷念) and anxiety of new love; instead, they show increased calm and attachment (依恋的情结), Fisher says. Couples view partners as central to their lives; they continue to want connection and engagement and maintain a sexual liveliness.

Elaine Hatfield, a psychology professor at the University of Hawaii, says the studies are ``a promising (给人希望的) beginning ... not the last word in our understanding of passionate love.''

Readers: 

1. Now can you use the vocabulary to describe what long-term relationships and new love are like?

2. In your opinion, does romance fade over time?