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I love you ?How to tell love from lust

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I love you.
Means what ?
Love appears to be a more evolved behaviour than lust, according to new research that has mapped the brain's centres of love, lust and attachment.

The authors of the study believe that lust is quite different from love.

"[Love] requires more sophisticated behaviours, reward and memory systems than other mammals," says lead author Dr Lucy Brown, a neurologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

"It is present to some degree in other primates that are close to us in brain development."

She says humans have evolved three distinct brain systems for mating and reproduction: the sex drive, romantic love and attachment to a long-term partner.

Brown and her colleagues took magnetic resonance images, or pictures of brain activity, of 17 young men and women who described themselves as being "newly and madly in love."

The researchers compared the MRI data with earlier studies on male penile girth responses to photographs of women, other studies on how the brains of men and women activate when individuals view people they find to be attractive or unattractive, and data on both human and animal couples that have been together for a long time.

The findings will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology.

Left versus right brain

The researchers discovered that early stage romantic love feelings are located mainly on the right side at the base of the brain, or the ventral midbrain, and in the middle of the brain, the caudate nucleus.

Long-term attachment, on the other hand, appears to be centred in the front and base of the brain, or the ventral putamen and the pallidum.

Feelings related to lust and sexual arousal occupy different areas, mostly located on the left-hand side of the brain.

The area of overlap seems to mostly involve visual information, but for romantic love to set in, it takes more than just a lustful pang and a pretty face.

Lust is good but love is better

Lust obviously can lead to procreation, which ensures the survival of a species, but the scientists believe love is better for humans in the long-term.

"Simple lust may be necessary in extremely difficult survival circumstances when there is no time for romance," Brown says.

"It is known that people in very dangerous and threatening situations can suddenly find themselves lusty for each other, even though they are strangers.

However, under safe circumstances within a stable society, romantic love and attachment may be the best and more efficient way to continue species survival."

Brown and her team believe that "love at first sight" is a real phenomenon, but they say other non-visual aspects of a person, such as mannerisms, voice, personality and social status, usually must come into play if lust is to evolve into love.

The researchers suggest "love at first sight" and the obsessive goal-driven aspects of early love are both evolved behaviours that speed up mating and provide a better chance for successful reproduction.

"Rather than get up the energy to go to a different bar every night and maybe be successful in finding a different person every night, sticking to the same person, being able to have sex without spending time on the search may increase chances for pregnancy," Brown says.

Crazy for you?

Dr Donatella Marazziti, a University of Pisa scientist who has also studied the brain and biochemical activity of people in love, agrees with the findings.

Marazziti says she isn't not surprised by the neural basis for "love at first sight," since, according to her theory, "love is a basic emotion, which would use the system of the basic emotions and, as such, it is sudden and unpredictable."

Marazziti also says that romantic lovers are a bit "crazy," since they can experience chemical imbalances within the brain.

Mental health experts have linked somewhat similar imbalances to depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Future of Love and Sex - Robots soon will become more human-like in appearance, researcher says

The New York Times has a review of British AI researcher David Levy's book 'Love and Sex with Robots'. He claims that within a span of about 50 years the day will come when people could actually fall in love with life-like robots. While this may seem far fetched at first, he has some pretty interesting views. 'He begins with what scientists know about why humans fall in love with other humans. There are 10 factors, he writes, including mystery, reciprocal liking, and readiness to enter a relationship. Why can't these factors apply to robots, too?' The case he builds goes much further though, and certainly provides food for thought."
Sex and marriage with robots? It could happen
Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows.

"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.

At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, "but once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon," Levy said.

The idea of romance between humanity and our artistic and/or mechanical creations dates back to ancient times, with the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion falling in love with the ivory statue he made named Galatea, to which the goddess Venus eventually granted life.

This notion persists in modern times. Not only has science fiction explored this idea, but 40 years ago, scientists noticed that students at times became unusually attracted to ELIZA, a computer program designed to ask questions and mimic a psychotherapist.

"There's a trend of robots becoming more human-like in appearance and coming more in contact with humans," Levy said. "At first robots were used impersonally, in factories where they helped build automobiles, for instance. Then they were used in offices to deliver mail, or to show visitors around museums, or in homes as vacuum cleaners, such as with the Roomba. Now you have robot toys, like Sony's Aibo robot dog, or Tickle Me Elmos, or digital pets like Tamagotchis."

In his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," Levy conjectures that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them.

"It may sound a little weird, but it isn't," Levy said. "Love and sex with robots are inevitable."

Sex with robots in 5 years
Levy argues that psychologists have identified roughly a dozen basic reasons why people fall in love, "and almost all of them could apply to human-robot relationships. For instance, one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable. Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that's programmable too."

In 2006, Henrik Christensen, founder of the European Robotics Research Network, predicted that people will be having sex with robots within five years, and Levy thinks that's quite likely. There are companies that already sell realistic sex dolls, "and it's just a matter of adding some electronics to them to add some vibration," he said, or endowing the robots with a few audio responses. "That's fairly primitive in terms of robotics, but the technology is already there."

As software becomes more advanced and the relationship between humans and robots becomes more personal, marriage could result. "One hundred years ago, interracial marriage and same-sex marriages were illegal in the United States. Interracial marriage has been legal now for 50 years, and same-sex marriage is legal in some parts of the states," Levy said. "There has been this trend in marriage where each partner gets to make their own choice of who they want to be with."

"The question is not if this will happen, but when," Levy said. "I am convinced the answer is much earlier than you think."

When and where it'll happen
Levy predicts Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize human-robot marriage. "Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage," Levy said. "There's also a lot of high-tech research there at places like MIT."

Although roboticist Ronald Arkin at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta does not think human-robot marriages will be legal anywhere by 2050, "anything's possible. And just because it's not legal doesn't mean people won't try it," he told LiveScience.

"Humans are very unusual creatures," Arkin said. "If you ask me if every human will want to marry a robot, my answer is probably not. But will there be a subset of people? There are people ready right now to marry sex toys."

The main benefit of human-robot marriage could be to make people who otherwise could not get married happier, "people who find it hard to form relationships, because they are extremely shy, or have psychological problems, or are just plain ugly or have unpleasant personalities," Levy said. "Of course, such people who completely give up the idea of forming relationships with other people are going to be few and far between, but they will be out there."

Ethical questions
The possibility of sex with robots could prove a mixed bag for humanity. For instance, robot sex could provide an outlet for criminal sexual urges. "If you have pedophiles and you let them use a robotic child, will that reduce the incidence of them abusing real children, or will it increase it?" Arkin asked. "I don't think anyone has the answers for that yet — that's where future research needs to be done."

Keeping a robot for sex could reduce human prostitution and the problems that come with it. However, "in a marriage or other relationship, one partner could be jealous or consider it infidelity if the other used a robot," Levy said. "But who knows, maybe some other relationships could welcome a robot. Instead of a woman saying, 'Darling, not tonight, I have a headache,' you could get 'Darling, I have a headache, why not use your robot?' "

Love and lust : Love neglected for lust

"Love, an emotion so strong that you would give up everything. To just feel it once, to know that you are part of something special. To know that you can feel what love really is; to know, to feel, to love." -- Source Unknown

Marriage has been an honorable institution for countless centuries. We have taken it from an arranged marriage to love, then in our times love that is "conditional."

I can almost hear the words changing in the sacred line "Till death do us part" to "Maybe, if you stay young and gorgeous."

Our divorce rates are skyrocketing, and we neglect love for lust.

A bigger controversy lurking in our society still remains. It could tear families apart. We have denied a certain faction of our population the right to have this bond, not just to claim someone on their taxes, but also to have the right to be married lawfully.

This is a repulsive virus spreading through our communities. It is called anti-gay marriage.

I think this topic needs to be addressed over and over again until people realize we are not here to say who can get married and who can't. It is not for us to declare, and I think that if people would just stop reviling gay marriage we could get the bigger and better picture.

Everyone is concerned about different things related to this subject. What would this do to our communities? How would people react? Wouldn't this cause more corruption in society?

Well, the answers are simple. Look to your hearts and comprehend that these two people, whether female or male partners, want the same love classified as your love. They want to know that when they walk down the street holding hands, it is accepted in society. No one wants his or her ways to be shunned!

What about the children of these same-sex parents? Will they turn into being gay as well? Well get your nose out of the air and realize that these children are their own people. They have their own minds and thoughts, and can't be influenced that easily.

With so many broken homes in our country, we should understand that these kids will get better homes.

I don't think their kids will be affected; I personally know this to be true.

Everyone needs to get off of his or her high horse and come back to Earth. We need to accept and love everyone no matter what his or her life is like.

My personal opinion about this is that if we love them, aren't we the better people? This is coming from someone of a conservative background, so I have learned how to not be so judgmental about life situations. I have friends and family members that want this to happen so their love and matrimony will be recognized.

We all need to stop judging, and we need to accept them with vivacity as much as the next change in society will be.

Stephanie Ward is a staff writer for the University Journal. She can be reached at sward@suujournal.com.

Hiten talks about love & lust

Hiten Tejwani reveals all.


Your first crush...

I really can’t remember.

Your first date...

That was when I was in college. I was in Jai Hind. She was in the same college. We went to the nearby Satkar restaurant.

Your idea of a perfect date...

With my wife Gauri on a beautiful island. We both loves beaches. So, it would be just perfect for us.

What qualities do you look for in a woman?

It’s not about external appearance, but inner beauty. Somebody who is a nice person and understanding. If she has a good sense of humour that would be the icing on the cake.

What was your first relationship like?

I was in my teens then. It was when I was in college. Actually it was a learning experience.

What do you think about lust versus love?

Where there is love there is lust.

What is romance to you?

It’s about being there for each other always.

Who’d you like to get dirty with on an island?

So many of them!!

Do you believe in the institution of marriage?

Yes of course. Marriage is a serious matter. Whoever plans to get married must remember they are getting into a bond which is forever. Two people in a marriage have to make it work. They are two different individuals who’ve come together and there are bound to be some differences. It’s all about adjusting and having a good understanding.

Your take on infidelity?

Why cheat on your partner and put your marriage in trouble. It makes no sense.

Sex genes in addiction? :Study links faster habit formation in females with genes on sex chromosomes

"I think [the study is] very cool," said Ronald See at the Medical University of South Carolina, who was not involved in this research. The investigators have established a simple method for teasing out sex and hormonal differences that can now be applied to behavioral tests, he said.

Sex differences in addictive behavior, long linked to female hormones, may also be driven by genetic factors, according to a new study published online in Nature Neuroscience.

A now-classic study that compared male and female responses to cocaine showed that females were more sensitive to the drug's reward effects during the estrus phase of their menstrual cycle, establishing the theory that hormone levels influence addictive behavior. But the contribution of sex chromosomes was not previously examined because there was no technique for separating hormonal factors from genetic ones.

Jane Taylor of Yale University and colleagues identified a naturally occurring mutant mouse in which males lacked a gene on the Y chromosome called SRY that is responsible for the formation of testes. These mutants, while chromosomally male, did not develop testes. The researchers then inserted the SRY gene onto an autosomal chromosome of a mutant male -- which developed normal testes -- and crossed that animal with a normal female. The resulting strain consisted of four phenotypes: genetic males with testes; genetic males with ovaries; genetic females with ovaries; and genetic females with testes.

"Until this mouse model we didn't have a way of addressing this issue," first author Jennifer Quinn, also from Yale, told The Scientist.

The researchers examined the speed with which the gonad-crossed mice formed a habitual behavior in response to food. The mice were trained to poke their noses in one of three holes in order to receive food. But when they were taught that the food was no longer tasty, genetically female mice -- regardless of their gonadal status -- continued the nose-poking behavior out of habit, even though they stopped eating the food. (When trained long enough, all four phenotypes developed the habit.)

The study doesn't contradict the body of data that implicates hormones like estrogen and progesterone in addictive behaviors, said Quinn, but it is the first demonstration there may be a sex-linked genetic component as well.

Teasing out addictive behaviors that are more strongly associated with sex-related genes could allow scientists to look for specific X-linked or Y-linked genes that could be targets for addiction therapies, said Quinn.

But she added that the study only indirectly addressed addiction behavior, since the researchers used a food response rather than a drug of abuse. While she plans to test responses to drugs of abuse using this experimental model, she said the results suggest that depression and conditions such as Tourette's syndrome, which have components of compulsive behavior, might also be affected by sex chromosomes.

Wendy Lynch from the University of Virginia, who was not involved in the study, said the research addressed a component of addiction that hasn't been given much attention. Most studies on drug addiction have focused on the initial reward -- the euphoric feeling -- that comes with satisfying a craving, but this work instead looked at habitual or compulsive behavior that contributes to addiction but often sets in later.

The results give a "hint or suggestion that females could develop compulsive behavior faster," Lynch said.

"It could certainly have implications on how learning [in general] takes place," as well as other motivation behaviors, See said.

"It really makes you wonder what else might be going on here," said Lynch. "I think there's going to be a lot of work that follows on this. I think it's going to be exciting."

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