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Why Women Have Sex On The Brain
TheTimes.com.uk ^ | 9-8-2001 | Nigel Hawkes

Posted on 09/09/2001 7:56:10 AM PDT by blam

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 08 2001
Why women have sex on the brain

BY NIGEL HAWKES

Scientific study has answered the question of why we fall in love in the most unromantic way possible

THE question that has perhaps most obsessed and mystified the poets, philosophers and thinkers — why do we fall in love? — has been answered in the most unromantic way possible: by the scientific study of the humble prairie vole.
Music was the food of love in Shakespeare’s book, but the truth, according to Professor Gareth Leng of the University of Edinburgh, lies in a “love potion” created in women’s brains after the act of sex, which helps her to form a bond with her partner.

Professor Leng, speaking to the British Association Science Festival in Glasgow yesterday, said that it is all in the chemistry because of evidence gleaned from the vole, which engages in enormous bouts of sexual intercourse, far in excess of that needed for reproduction.

“If you were to spend (many hours in) intense sexual activity with a partner, something fundamental might happen to your behaviour,” he said. “That’s often what you see in animals. Many animals bond for life. It’s not going to surprise anybody to think something fundamental is happening in the brain.”

Oxytocin, produced by the pituitary gland in the brain, is probably also involved in creating the bond between mother and child at birth and during breast-feeding. In prairie voles, a monogamous species, the effect is especially strong.

“If you put a male and female prairie vole into a cage, but don’t allow them to mate, they seem to form a kind of friendship. But if you inject oxytocin into the female’s brain, she will form this sexual bond.”

Professor Leng said: “We’re talking about 24 hours of constant copulation.” Translated to human behaviour, he said, this could mean that the more sex a couple have, the deeper their bond becomes, at least on the woman’s side.

“So how does a brain fall in love? My answer, perhaps, like yours, would be: a time, a place, a pair of eyes.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs
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....and now, the rest of the story.
1 posted on 09/09/2001 7:56:10 AM PDT by blam
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To: Romulus, Orual
Flag for questing voles.
2 posted on 09/09/2001 8:00:11 AM PDT by dighton
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To: dighton
This could explain why so many women remain with abusive partners. I am assuming that the physical abuse indicates a higher level of testosterone in the male than normal and thus these "pair-bonded" individuals would be engaged in more sexual acts than the typical couple.

With each act, the woman becomes more hopelessly tied to the abuser.

3 posted on 09/09/2001 8:04:26 AM PDT by longleaf
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To: blam
Errr... Blam... that drug rings a bell.

I think it's the one a couple of idiot thieves (male) stole from a vet hospital (break-in) when trying to steal OxyContin...

Seems they were taking it, and not getting the expected buzz... They got caught too. Thread on FR somewhere about it...

4 posted on 09/09/2001 8:10:08 AM PDT by DAnconia55
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: blam
The act of sex is an act of bonding. The Bible states that two bodies become one. That is a part of marriage.
6 posted on 09/09/2001 8:11:57 AM PDT by Don Myers
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To: blam
Another reason why males and females are incompatible. After copulation, so many men curl up into a ball, suffering from post h***-** depression.
7 posted on 09/09/2001 8:15:39 AM PDT by Senator Pardek
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To: Thorn11cav
Reminds me of the old joke, did you know doctors have discovered a certain food that kills womens' sexual desire?

Wedding cake!

-ccm

8 posted on 09/09/2001 8:16:27 AM PDT by ccmay
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To: blam
“If you were to spend (many hours in) intense sexual activity with a partner, something fundamental might happen to your behaviour,” he said.

Uh, like maybe you couldn't move anymore due to sheer exhaustion.

9 posted on 09/09/2001 8:18:34 AM PDT by I am still Casey
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To: dighton

Simple ingredients. Voles do it, might as well whip up a batch.

10 posted on 09/09/2001 8:19:23 AM PDT by Orual
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To: blam
"if you inject oxytocin into the female’s brain, she will form this sexual bond.”

..Or if the guy is rich and shows up in a new BMW, the oxytocin really kicks in......!

11 posted on 09/09/2001 8:19:40 AM PDT by TRY ONE
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To: blam
Do we still have to take showers?
12 posted on 09/09/2001 8:19:55 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: blam
"Professor Leng said: “We’re talking about 24 hours of constant copulation.”

Yes, NOW we're talking!!!!!!!! Go on..........

13 posted on 09/09/2001 8:23:28 AM PDT by Smartaleck
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To: blam
You know...we could tie this thread to homosexuality and wind up with a real mess.
14 posted on 09/09/2001 8:23:29 AM PDT by Maelstrom
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To: Orual
Voles do it

Moles do it,
Fellows of All Souls do it.

Cole Porter bump.

15 posted on 09/09/2001 8:25:27 AM PDT by dighton
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Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: ccmay
LOL!!!
17 posted on 09/09/2001 8:34:59 AM PDT by FITZ
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To: Thorn11cav
Unfortunetly its not a permanent condition and can easily be cured with marriage.

LMAO !

18 posted on 09/09/2001 8:36:44 AM PDT by Eagle9
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To: blam
Women Have Sex On The Brain

THIS is the problem... "on the brain".
It needs to be moved down a couple of feet (+/-).

19 posted on 09/09/2001 8:36:58 AM PDT by TheGrimReaper
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To: blam
Ah, another "Why do fools fall in love" theory. I likes it!
20 posted on 09/09/2001 8:38:58 AM PDT by Cyber Liberty
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