The brain in love | Helen Fisher

譯者: Ai-Ying (Erin) Chiang 審譯者: Yu-Ju Chiang

I and my colleagues Art Aron and Lucy Brown and others,

我和同事亞特愛倫、露西布朗和其他人

have put 37 people who are madly in love into a functional MRI brain scanner.

將 37 名瘋狂陷入愛河的人們

接受MRI 腦部掃描

17 who were happily in love, 15 who had just been dumped,

其中 17 名正在享受愛情， 另外 15 名則剛剛被甩

而現在我們的第 3 項實驗才剛起步：

and we're just starting our third experiment:

studying people who report that they're still in love

研究那些依然認為自己愛火未熄的人們

這些人都結婚 10 到 25 年了

after 10 to 25 years of marriage.

So, this is the short story of that research.

現在，我們就來簡單的談談這項研究

在瓜地馬拉叢林中一個叫帝卡的地方， 有一座神廟

In the jungles of Guatemala, in Tikal, stands a temple.

It was built by the grandest Sun King, of the grandest city-state,

由至高無上的太陽王建造

他統治最偉大的城市城邦

of the grandest civilization of the Americas, the Mayas.

創造出最輝煌的美洲文明 -- 馬雅

太陽王叫做卡薩．肯．切威

His name was Jasaw Chan K'awiil.

He stood over six feet tall.

身高超過 6 呎

活到高壽 80 歲

He lived into his 80s,

西元 720 年，他就被葬在這神廟下

and he was buried beneath this monument in 720 AD.

And Mayan inscriptions proclaim that he was deeply in love with his wife.

殿中的馬雅碑文描述

他深愛自己的妻子

因此為她建造了面朝自己的神廟

So, he built a temple in her honor, facing his.

And every spring and autumn, exactly at the equinox,

每年春秋兩季，就在春秋分這兩日

太陽從他的神廟後方升起

the sun rises behind his temple,

and perfectly bathes her temple with his shadow.

神廟投下的陰影，將完全將籠罩妻子的神廟

And as the sun sets behind her temple in the afternoon,

到了傍晚，太陽在妻子神廟後落下

it perfectly bathes his temple with her shadow.

自己的神廟就會完全籠罩在妻子的陰影中

即使過了 1300 年，這對愛侶

After 1,300 years, these two lovers still touch and kiss from their tomb.

仍在墓中相擁相親

世界各地的人們付出愛情

Around the world, people love.

他們為愛而歌、因愛而舞

They sing for love, they dance for love,

they compose poems and stories about love.

寫出關於愛情的詩和故事

They tell myths and legends about love.

訴說關於愛情的神話和傳說

他們為愛消瘦、為愛而活

They pine for love, they live for love, they kill for love, and they die for love.

為愛殺戮也為愛而死

惠特曼曾說

As Walt Whitman once said, "O I would stake all for you."

他說：「喔，我願為愛放棄一切」

人類學家在超過 170 個社會中找到愛情的證據

Anthropologists have found evidence of romantic love in 170 societies.

They've never found a society that did not have it.

他們從未找到一個沒有愛的社會

但愛不總是快樂的

But love isn't always a happy experience.

在一個大學生的調查中

In one study of college students, they asked a lot of questions about love,

他們問了許多關於愛情的問題

其中最引我注意的兩個問題就是

but the two that stood out to me the most were:

你曾經被自己真愛的人拒絕嗎？

"Have you ever been rejected by somebody who you really loved?"

And the second question was:

第二個問題則是

你曾經拋棄真正愛妳的人嗎？

"Have you ever dumped somebody who really loved you?"

And almost 95 percent of both men and women said yes to both.

不管男女，回答兩者皆是的人幾近 95%

幾乎沒人能從愛中全身而退

Almost nobody gets out of love alive.

So, before I start telling you about the brain,

因此，在開始談大腦之前

我想先念幾段文字

I want to read for you

what I think is the most powerful love poem on Earth.

我認為這是世界上最動人的情詩

There's other love poems that are, of course, just as good,

當然，其他情詩也很好

不過我認為這首詩真的是無與倫比

but I don't think this one can be surpassed.

南阿拉斯加的一名瓜基烏圖族印第安人

It was told by an anonymous Kwakiutl Indian of southern Alaska

to a missionary in 1896.

在 1896 年將這首詩告訴傳教士，詩是這麼說的

And here it is.

這是我第一次有機會唸出來

I've never had the opportunity to say it before.

"Fire runs through my body with the pain of loving you.

愛妳的痛苦，蔓延全身如火燒灼

對妳的愛火，燒灼全身痛苦難抑

Pain runs through my body with the fires of my love for you.

Pain like a boil about to burst with my love for you,

對妳的愛伴隨之苦似水，將沸將滿

遭愛情的烈焰吞噬

consumed by fire with my love for you.

I remember what you said to me.

妳的愛語，我不曾忘記

妳的愛情，我時時惦記

I am thinking of your love for me.

妳的愛情，讓我分崩離析

I am torn by your love for me.

痛苦無盡

Pain and more pain --

where are you going with my love?

妳，帶著我的愛情，要往何去

我聽說妳將就此離去

I am told you will go from here.

I am told you will leave me here.

我聽說妳要將我獨留此地

我的身體，現已悲痛無覺

My body is numb with grief.

我的一字一句，愛人呀，請別忘記

Remember what I said, my love.

再見了，我的愛，後會有期

Goodbye, my love, goodbye."

Emily Dickinson once wrote, "Parting is all we need to know of hell."

愛蜜莉狄更生曾寫到

分離，讓我們體會地獄

多少人受此折磨

How many people have suffered

在人類演化的這幾百萬年中？

in all the millions of years of human evolution?

How many people around the world

世界上又有多少人

在此刻因愛狂喜雀躍？

are dancing with elation at this very minute?

Romantic love is one of the most powerful sensations on Earth.

世上最強大感情之一就是浪漫的愛情。

因此，幾年前我便決定深入研究大腦

So, several years ago, I decided to look into the brain

藉此研究這種瘋狂耽溺

and study this madness.

Our first study of people who were happily in love

我們對愛情中的人們所作的第一項研究

has been widely publicized,

已大量出版

so I'm only going to say very little about it.

所以，我便不再贅述

We found activity in a tiny, little factory near the base of the brain

我們在靠近腦底部的小地方發現腦部活動

called the ventral tegmental area.

該處叫做腹側蓋區 (VTA)

We found activity in some cells called the A10 cells,

我們發現了一些名為 ApEn 的細胞

cells that actually make dopamine, a natural stimulant,

這些細胞負責製造多巴胺這種自然的激素

and spray it to many brain regions.

然後將之送到腦部的許多區域

其實 VTA 區是腦部回饋系統的一部份

Indeed, this part, the VTA, is part of the brain's reward system.

比負責認知思考的腦區深很多

It's way below your cognitive thinking process.

It's below your emotions.

也比負責情緒的腦區深

It's part of what we call the reptilian core of the brain,

它屬於名為爬蟲類腦的腦部區域

associated with wanting, with motivation, with focus and with craving.

跟欲望和動機

還有專注與渴望相關

In fact, the same brain region where we found activity

事實上，我們發現這個活躍的區域

在古柯鹼毒癮發作時，也有相同反應

becomes active also when you feel the rush of cocaine.

But romantic love is much more than a cocaine high --

但浪漫的愛情，不只是吸毒的癮

at least you come down from cocaine.

至少，吸毒的癮會過去

Romantic love is an obsession, it possesses you.

浪漫的愛情則是一種癡迷，讓人沈淪耽溺

You lose your sense of self.

令你神魂顛倒、喪失自我

你無法停止惦記另一個人

You can't stop thinking about another human being.

Somebody is camping in your head.

有人在你心裡紮營

正如 8 世紀日本詩人說的

As an eighth-century Japanese poet said, "My longing had no time when it ceases."

我的渴望無時止息

瘋狂就是愛

Wild is love.

而且，這種迷戀還可能在遭到拒絕後加深

And the obsession can get worse when you've been rejected.

因此現在，露西和我以及研究計畫中的腦神經學家

So, right now, Lucy Brown and I, the neuroscientists on our project,

正在觀察實驗樣本的數據

are looking at the data of the people

這些接受掃描的人，都剛被拋棄

who were put into the machine after they had just been dumped.

It was very difficult actually, putting these people in the machine,

這不是件簡單的事

讓這些人接受掃描

because they were in such bad shape.

因為他們真是不成人型

(笑聲)

(Laughter)

So anyway, we found activity in three brain regions.

總之，我們在 3 個腦區發現活動

We found activity in the brain region,

其中一個活動的腦區

in exactly the same brain region associated with intense romantic love.

竟然就是那個

與強烈的愛情相關的腦區

天呀，真糟糕

What a bad deal.

You know, when you've been dumped,

大家都知道，一但被拋棄

the one thing you love to do is just forget about this human being,

我們唯一想做的事就是把這個人忘了

然後重新開始生活

and then go on with your life -- but no, you just love them harder.

不過，我們實際上反而愛的更深

就像羅馬詩人泰倫斯曾說的

As the poet Terence, the Roman poet once said,

he said, "The less my hope, the hotter my love."

他說「希望愈渺，愛情愈炙」

現在，我們終於知道原因了

And indeed, we now know why.

Two thousand years later, we can explain this in the brain.

2,000 年後，我們可以用大腦活動解釋

這一個大腦系統，這個回饋系統

That brain system -- the reward system

for wanting, for motivation, for craving, for focus --

負責欲望、動機、渴望和專注

becomes more active when you can't get what you want.

在無法遂願時，反而更加活躍

In this case, life's greatest prize: an appropriate mating partner.

就這樣，我們得到生命賜予的最大獻禮

一個合適的交配伴侶

We found activity in other brain regions also --

我們也在其他腦區發現活動

在計算得失的腦區

in a brain region associated with calculating gains and losses.

你知道的，你躺在那，看著相片

You're lying there, you're looking at the picture,

在機器裡

and you're in this machine,

你同時也在算計，自己做錯了什麼？

and you're calculating what went wrong.

What have I lost?

為什麼失敗，又失去了什麼？

As a matter of fact, Lucy and I have a little joke about this.

實際上，露西跟我還就這個情況說了個小笑話

靈感是大衛馬蒙的戲

It comes from a David Mamet play,

and there's two con artists in the play,

戲中有男女兩個騙子

女的試著誘騙男人上鉤

and the woman is conning the man,

and the man looks at the woman and says,

但這個男人看著女人，然後說

喔，妳少耍心機了，我才不會上當呢

"Oh, you're a bad pony, I'm not going to bet on you."

And indeed, it's this part of the brain,

這就是這一個腦區

阿肯柏氏核的中樞開始活動

the core of the nucleus accumbens,

that is becoming active as you're measuring your gains and losses.

就在我們計算得失的時候

這個腦區也會開始活躍

It's also the brain region that becomes active

當我們自願冒極大的險

when you're willing to take enormous risks for huge gains and huge losses.

以得到巨大的報償或損失

Last but not least, we found activity in a brain region

最後，但卻重要的是，我們在一個腦區發現的活動

這和對另一個體的深度依戀有關

associated with deep attachment to another individual.

No wonder people suffer around the world, and we have so many crimes of passion.

難怪世上的人都在受苦

而且有那麼多因愛犯罪的案例

When you've been rejected in love,

當我們在愛中遭到拒絕

我們不只在愛情中滅頂

not only are you engulfed with feelings of romantic love,

還會對對方產生深度的依戀

but you're feeling deep attachment to this individual.

Moreover, this brain circuit for reward is working,

而且，大腦回饋迴路的作用

我們感到極度有活力、專注

and you're feeling intense energy, intense focus, intense motivation

極度有動力且非常願意窮盡一切

and the willingness to risk it all, to win life's greatest prize.

贏得生命的大禮

So, what have I learned from this experiment

那麼，我到底從這項實驗中學到什麼？

that I would like to tell the world?

我想告訴大家什麼？

Foremost, I have come to think

首先，我開始認為

that romantic love is a drive, a basic mating drive.

愛情是一種慾望，一種引發交配本能的慾望

它不是性慾，因為性慾讓你忘了愛情

Not the sex drive --

the sex drive gets you looking for a whole range of partners.

尋找各式各樣的性伴侶

真正的愛情讓我們只將交配精力聚焦在單一對象

Romantic love enables you to focus your mating energy

on just one at a time, conserve your mating energy,

一次針對一個人，保留我們的交配精力

and start the mating process with this single individual.

然後跟這個單一對象，開始交配過程

回想所有我讀過的情詩

I think of all the poetry that I've read about romantic love,

柏拉圖說得最好

what sums it up best is something that is said by Plato

over 2,000 years ago.

超過 2,000 年前

他說「需求產生愛」

He said, "The god of love lives in a state of need.

愛是需求，是衝動

It is a need, it is an urge, it is a homeostatic imbalance.

是內在恆定的失衡

Like hunger and thirst, it's almost impossible to stamp out."

就像饑渴，幾乎不可能壓抑消滅

我也開始相信，愛情是一種癮

I've also come to believe that romantic love is an addiction:

a perfectly wonderful addiction when it's going well,

一種在順遂時，極度美好

情況有變時則極度糟糕的癮

and a perfectly horrible addiction when it's going poorly.

And indeed, it has all of the characteristics of addiction.

實際上，愛也有許多和上癮相同的特性

You focus on the person, you obsessively think about them,

我們專注於一個人、無法自拔的想他、

you crave them, you distort reality,

渴望他、不惜扭曲事實

your willingness to take enormous risks to win this person.

為了抱得良人歸，我們願意冒極大的險

And it's got the three main characteristics of addiction:

所以，愛情有這 3 大成癮的特性

泰倫斯說「你需要更常見到他，再更常見到他」

tolerance, you need to see them more, and more, and more;

withdrawals;

戒癮，之後復發

and last: relapse.

我有個女性朋友，剛結束一段糟糕的戀情

I've got a girlfriend who's just getting over a terrible love affair.

It's been about eight months, she's beginning to feel better.

8 個月過去了，她開始覺得好一些

有一天她正在開車

And she was driving along in her car the other day,

突然聽見收音機放出一首歌

and suddenly she heard a song on the car radio

讓她想起這個男人

that reminded her of this man.

Not only did the instant craving come back,

最後她，不只是感到那種迫切渴望又回來了

but she had to pull over from the side of the road and cry.

她還不得不靠邊

將車停在路邊大哭一場

So, one thing I would like the medical community,

因此，我希望醫學界、

法學界，甚至是大學學界

and the legal community, and even the college community,

to see if they can understand, that indeed, romantic love

試著理解，事實上

愛情是世上最容易成癮的毒品

is one of the most addictive substances on Earth.

I would also like to tell the world that animals love.

我也希望告訴大家，動物也會愛

There's not an animal on this planet

這世上沒有一種動物

會任意無選擇的交配

that will copulate with anything that comes along.

太老、太小、太髒、太笨，就不會交配

Too old, too young, too scruffy, too stupid, and they won't do it.

Unless you're stuck in a laboratory cage --

除非困在實驗室籠子裡

and you know, if you spend your entire life in a little box,

你知道，要是一輩子都在小盒子裡

對於性伴侶，就不會這麼挑剔

you're not going to be as picky about who you have sex with,

but I've looked in a hundred species,

不過我觀察了一千種物種

在野外，動物就是會大小眼

and everywhere in the wild, animals have favorites.

As a matter of fact, ethologists know this.

實際上動物學家也知道這點

There are over eight words for what they call "animal favoritism:"

他們用 4 個詞形容動物的大小眼

selective proceptivity, mate choice, female choice, sexual choice.

選擇知覺、交配選擇、雌性選擇、性選擇

And indeed, there are now three academic articles

而且，已有 3 篇學術論文

in which they've looked at this attraction,

研究這樣的吸引力

which may only last for a second,

雖然只維持短短一秒

but it's a definite attraction,

這就是一種吸引力

同樣的腦部區域，這種回饋系統

and either this same brain region, this reward system,

or the chemicals of that reward system are involved.

或是回饋系統的化學作用都與之相關

In fact, I think animal attraction can be instant --

實際上，我認為動物的吸引力可能在當下馬上發生

you can see an elephant instantly go for another elephant.

我們可以看見大象馬上走向另一隻大象

And I think that this is really the origin

我認為這就是一個開始

of what you and I call "love at first sight."

開始了我們口中的「一見鍾情」

大家常問我

People have often asked me

whether what I know about love has spoiled it for me.

我對愛情的了解，會不會讓我對愛情失去興趣

And I just simply say, "Hardly."

我只能說，一點也不

You can know every single ingredient in a piece of chocolate cake,

正如我們知道巧克力蛋糕的所有材料

不過，真正坐下來吃蛋糕時

and then when you sit down and eat that cake,

you can still feel that joy.

還是覺得很享受

And certainly, I make all the same mistakes that everybody else does too,

當然，我還是會犯同樣的錯

犯天下人都會犯的錯

but it's really deepened my understanding

不過，這一切都加深了我的了解

and compassion, really, for all human life.

我對各種人的同理心，

As a matter of fact, in New York, I often catch myself

其實，在紐約，我常發現自己

looking in baby carriages and feeling a little sorry for the tot.

望著嬰兒車，對裡面的寶寶感到一點遺憾

And in fact, sometimes I feel a little sorry

而且，我有時候也覺得有些遺憾

for the chicken on my dinner plate,

看著盤中的雞

想到這些大腦系統有多強大

when I think of how intense this brain system is.

Our newest experiment has been hatched

我們最新的研究催生者

by my colleague, Art Aron --

便是我的同事亞特愛倫

putting people who are reporting that they are still in love,

讓聲稱依然相愛的人們

用 MRI 掃描這些身處長期關係中的人們

in a long-term relationship, into the functional MRI.

We've put five people in so far,

目前我們已經掃描了 5 個人

and indeed, we found exactly the same thing.

而且也真的發現同樣的事實。他們沒有說謊

They're not lying.

The brain areas associated with intense romantic love

同樣的腦區

跟強烈的愛情相關的地方

still become active, 25 years later.

即使過了 25 年，依然活躍

There are still many questions to be answered

有待解釋的問題還有很多

and asked about romantic love.

關於愛情，有待提出的問題也很多

The question that I'm working on right this minute --

目前我正在努力的問題

我只稍微談一下，然後就做結語

and I'm only going to say it for a second, and then end --

問題就是，我們為什麼只愛上這個人，而不是其他人？

is, why do you fall in love with one person, rather than another?

I never would have even thought to think of this,

我從未思考過這個問題

but Match.com, the Internet dating site,

不過 Match.com 這個線上約會網站

came to me three years ago and asked me that question.

3 年前找到我，問了這個問題

我只能說，我不知道

And I said, I don't know.

I know what happens in the brain, when you do become in love,

我知道愛情來臨時大腦中發生的活動

but I don't know why you fall in love with one person rather than another.

不過，我不知道為什麼我們只看上這個人

而不是另一個人

所以，過去 3 年，我都在研究這問題

And so, I've spent the last three years on this.

And there are many reasons that you fall in love with one person

因為許多因素，我們愛上某人

而不是其他人。心理學家也這麼告訴我們

rather than another, that psychologists can tell you.

而且我們比較容易愛上

And we tend to fall in love with somebody from the same socioeconomic background,

社經背景相同、

知識程度相同、

the same general level of intelligence, of good looks, the same religious values.

外貌相配、

信仰價值觀相同的人

Your childhood certainly plays a role, but nobody knows how.

童年當然是因素之一，不過沒人能肯定其影響方式

And that's about it, that's all they know.

大概就是這樣。這就是我們所知的全部

No, they've never found

不，他們從未發現過兩種不同的人格

the way two personalities fit together to make a good relationship.

互相結合且營造出良好的關係

So, it began to occur to me

因此，我有了個想法

that maybe your biology pulls you towards some people rather than another.

也許我們受到的是生理的驅使

受特定人士的吸引

And I have concocted a questionnaire to see to what degree

最後我設計了問卷，

you express dopamine, serotonin, estrogen and testosterone.

可以反應出人們受多巴胺、血清素、 雌激素和睪固酮素影響的程度

I think we've evolved four very broad personality types

我想我們演化出了 4 種非常大的人格分類

associated with the ratios of these four chemicals in the brain.

與腦中這 4 種化學物質有關

And on this dating site that I have created, called Chemistry.com,

在我建立的約會網站

叫做 Chemistry.com，我問了幾個大項的問題

I ask you first a series of questions

to see to what degree you express these chemicals,

看看我們受這幾種化學物質影響的程度

and I'm watching who chooses who to love.

然後，我從中觀察大家的選擇

And 3.7 million people have taken the questionnaire in America.

全美已有 370 萬人做過這個問卷

其他 33 個國家也共有 60 萬人回答

About 600,000 people have taken it in 33 other countries.

I'm putting the data together now,

目前，我在彙總數據

and at some point -- there will always be magic to love,

有時候，總是免不了一些「奇蹟之愛」

但我相信，我們將能更進一步了解

but I think I will come closer to understanding

為什麼走進一個房間

why it is you can walk into a room and everybody is from your background,

每個人都來自相同背景、

your same general level of intelligence, good looks,

知識程度相似、

外貌相配，

但卻不是每個人都能吸引我們

and you don't feel pulled towards all of them.

I think there's biology to that.

我想其中必有生理原因

I think we're going to end up, in the next few years,

我認為，未來幾年內

to understand all kinds of brain mechanisms

我們將可以了解，怎樣的大腦機制

that pull us to one person rather than another.

讓我們受特定人士吸引

So, I will close with this.

現在，讓我以此做結。他們是我的長青樣本。

These are my older people.

Faulkner said, "The past is not dead, it's not even past."

福克納曾說「未成定局的過去，

都不算過去」

的確，我們的包袱很重

Indeed, we carry a lot of luggage from our yesteryear in the human brain.

這包袱來自我們過去對人腦所作的研究

And so, there's one thing that makes me pursue my understanding of human nature,

不過，仍有一件事

激勵我努力了解人類的天性

and this reminds me of it.

而這正提醒了我

These are two women.

這是兩個女人

Women tend to get intimacy differently than men do.

女人的親密關係和男人不同

Women get intimacy from face-to-face talking.

女人透過面對面交談變得親密

我們在對方身邊轉

We swivel towards each other,

we do what we call the "anchoring gaze" and we talk.

給彼此所謂「支持的眼神」，而且我們交談

對女人來說，這就是親密

This is intimacy to women.

I think it comes from millions of years

我想這是幾百萬年來

將寶寶擁在懷裡看著

of holding that baby in front of your face,

說話哄他、罵他、教他的結果

cajoling it, reprimanding it, educating it with words.

男人則透過身體力行進入親密關係

Men tend to get intimacy from side-by-side doing.

(笑聲)

As soon as one guy looks up, the other guy will look away.

一個人向上看，另一個馬上轉移視線

(笑聲)

(Laughter)

I think it comes from millions of years sitting behind the bush,

我想這是因為幾百萬年來

他們都站在或坐在樹叢後

looking straight ahead, trying to hit that buffalo on the head with a rock.

向前看

試著把石頭砸到野牛的頭上

(笑聲)

I think, for millions of years, men faced their enemies,

我想男人幾百萬年來面對敵人

所以習慣與朋友肩並肩吧

they sat side-by-side with friends.

So my final statement is: love is in us.

今日我將以此做結：愛，無所不在

它深深的刻在我們的腦中

It's deeply embedded in the brain.

Our challenge is to understand each other.

真正的困難，是互相了解。謝謝各位。

Thank you.

(掌聲)

(Applause)