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基本説明
Takes a light hearted and entertaining approach in explaining the current scientific knowledge of why people are attracted to each other. Covers research from the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, physics and medicine.
Full Description
Philosophers have mused over them, poets have written about them and musicians have sung about them. Love, desire and passion will at some point touch everyone's life - yet they are little understood and some of the oldest mysteries of mankind. Why do people fall in love and what is love anyway? What makes people attractive? How do these emotions tie in with our physiology and how we have evolved? Lust and Love: Is it more than Chemistry? provides answers to some of these questions through the eyes of science. It takes a light hearted and entertaining approach in explaining the current scientific knowledge of why people are attracted to each other, from the first moments of meeting to how emotions change in a long lasting partnership. The book covers research from the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, physics and medicine while using the love story of a fictional couple to take the reader on a journey explaining the science. Additional topics on the 'tools of attraction', including the history of the lipstick, and the development of perfumes and aphrodisiacs, provide an absorbing insight into the subject. Medical treatments and conditions including contraception, erectile dysfunction and the climacteric phenomenon are also discussed. This engaging and unusual book is ideal for anyone interested in the science behind love, desire and passion.
Contents
Chapter 1: Mysteries of the Emotional Rollercoaster; 1: A Day in the Life of Bianca and Michael - Why Our Brain Produces ''Butterflies''; 2.1: Mapping the Brain is Like Decoding the Genome; 2.2: The Universe Inside Bianca's and Michael's Heads; 2.3: Think Before You Act! - Order Refused, Says the Spinal Cord; 3: Michael's Brain, a Dream Super Computer; 3.1: Is Our Brain a Parallel Computer?; 3.2: Right or Left? Our Split Brain has to Make a Decision; 3.3: Kissers Turn Right (Probably); 3.4: Can Thoughts be Measured?; 3.5: A Formula 1 Racing Car in Michael's Brain; 4: The Cell as a Chemical Reactor; 4.1: The First Encounter With Bianca: Michael's Ion Channels ''Remember''; 4.2: Michael has Localised Bianca: The ''Chemistry of the Moment''; 4.3: Michael's and Bianca's Emotions are Mainly Happening at the Front of the Right Hemisphere; 4.4: ''Squids'' Made of Niobium as a Compass of our Thoughts; 5: Outbursts of Emotion Set Molecular ''Submarines'' Going; 5.1: Michael's Love Triggers an Avalanche of Signalsin the Brain; 6: Neurotransmitters - Guardians of Emotions and Sleep; 6.1: Is Michael's Brain Squandering Energy?; 6.2: Bianca Likes Glucose - Her Brain Too; Chapter 2: Two Networks of Nerves; 1: Hugs and Heartbeats; 1.1: Control Over Sex and Senses; 1.2: Team Work; 1.3: No Erection without the Cooperation of Vegetative and Somatic System; Chapter 3: Signals of Love; 1: Love at First Sight?; 1.1: Shy Men Avoid Eye Contact-Women Look for it; 2: Anatomy of a Flirt; 3: The American Kama Sutra: Pulling Tactics; Chapter 4: Tied Up with a Double Helix; 1: All in Our Genes?; 2: From Primordial Soup to DNA; 3: Chemistry: The Seed of Life, Mind, and Emotions; 4: Genes are Like Men; 4.1: Why does Michael have Dark Hair? Sugar and Phosphate Molecules Provide the Answer; 5: Inherited Genes: A Surprise Present; Chapter 5: Hormones - The Body's Snailmail; 1: Blame it on the Adrenaline; 1.1: Adrenaline and Co.: the Secret Rulers of Our Emotional World; 1.2: Hormone Deficiency in the Brain can Trigger a Rollercoaster of Emotions; 1.3: Checks and Balances; 1.4: Exultation and Melancholy; Chapter 6: Estrogen and Testosterone - Driving Our Emotional Lives; 1: The Secret Entanglement of Body and Soul; 2: Bianca Knows the Story but can't Fight her Feelings; 2.1: During Puberty, the Countdown of the Body's Chemistry Begins; 2.2: Men are Much Less Complicated, or are They?; 2.3: Testosterone - A Versatile Hormone; 3: Love is the Best Medicine; 3.1: Domestic Disputes Weaken the Immune System; Chapter 7: Oxytocin - the ''Amuse-Gueule'' Among Hormones; 1: When Michael Caressed Bianca, her ''Chemical Factory'' Produced Oxytocin; 1.1: Keen on Cuddling after Orgasm? It's all in the Chemistry!; 1.2: From Moscow with Love: Oxytocin and the Pavlov Effect; 1.3: Why Women Pick up the Phone When They are Stressed; 1.4: Small Molecule, Big Effect; 1.5: Men and Women, Be Tolerant!; 1.6: Social Behaviour Benefits, Too.; 1.7: Oxytocin and Vasopressin - Chemical Compass Needles for Partnership and Fidelity; Chapter 8: Dopamine - Casanova's Double-Edged ''Secret Weapon''; 1: A Hormone that makes us Euphoric; 1.1: Excess Amounts of Dopamine can Lead to Pathological Addiction to Love; 1.2: Male Rats Show a Pronounced ''Coolidge Effect''; Chapter 9: Serotonin - the Happy Messenger in the Blood; 1: A Moody Messenger; 1.1: Sometimes Michael Craves Chocolate; 1.2: Pathological Love - Linked to Serotonin Deficiency; 1.3: Microparanoia - The Love Sickness; Chapter 10: Phenylethylamine - the Stuff that Makes the Soul Jubilate; 1: Welcome to the Rollercoaster of Emotions; 1.1: The Elevator to Cloud 9 Smells of Fish; Chapter 11: The Chemistry of Birth Control; 1: How about the Pill?; 1.1: Birth Control - Almost a Never Ending Story; 1.2:Just Crouch Down and have a Good Sneeze; 1.3: A Big Leap for the Biology of Small Eggs; 1.4: Why is There No Pill for the Male?; Chapter 12: Menopause: When the Hormone Supply Falters; 1: Will You Always Love Me?; 1.1: Is Hormone Replacement Therapy the Way Out?; 1.2: Drugs from Nature's Treasure Trove; 1.3: Not only Women; Chapter 13: Endogenous Opiates - the Chemistry of Euphoria; 1: It's not only the Adrenaline that Gets Michael and Bianca Started; 1.1: Is Our Brain a Poppy Flower?; 1.2: Researchers Go the Whole Hog; 1.3: Long Time no See?; 2: Endorphins - An Emergency Centre of the Body?; 2.1: Mice Turn into Little Cowards; 2.2: Faith is the Best Medicine - Endorphins and The Placebo Effect; 3: Endorphins in Pain Research; 3.1: Opiates Linked to Near Death Experience?; 3.2: Hugging the Pain Away; 3.3: Immediately After Birth, Mother and Baby are full of Opiates; 3.4: Breastfeeding Makes Babies High; 4: Naloxone - Opponent of the Opiates; 4.1: Without Endorphins, The World of Intensive Emotions Remains Locked; 5: Natural Opiates; 6: Synthetic Opioids; 6.1: Synthetic Opiates were Meant to Knock Out Terrorists; 7: Are Our Opiate Receptors a Blessing or a Curse of Nature?; Chapter 14: Chemistry for the Eye of the Beholder - Lipsticks through the Ages; 1: Bianca's Red Lips get Michael all Excited; 1.1: In the Ice Age, Ochre was all the Rage; 1.2: A Magic Wand of Cosmetics - Thanks to Chemistry; Chapter 15: Secret Scents of Seduction; 1: Come on let's Go; 1.1: From the ''Dialogue with the Gods'' to Modern Perfume; 1.2: Top Notes, Middle Notes, and Base Notes: An Excursion into the Chemistry of Fragrances; 1.3: A Frenchman had a Nose for it; 1.4: Animal Instincts; 1.5: Take a Deep Breath - How Our Sense of Smell Works; 1.6: Is the Gradual Loss of Our Sense of Smell an Error of Evolution?; 1.7: Show Your True Colours and I Tell You Which Fragrance You Prefer; Chapter 16: Pheromones - Words in the Dialogue of Fragrances; 1: Do Pheromones make Humans Horny, Too?; 1.1: A Relic from Earlier Days of Evolution?; 1.2: The Truffle Pig in us Decides Whether We Get on with Each Other; 1.3: Men are Smellier Than Women; 1.4: Napoleon to His Wife: ''Don't Wash, Will Arrive in Three Days.''; 1.5: Copulins - the ''Chemical Weapons'' of Women; 1.6: Artificial Pheromones in Perfumes make Men Keen to Cuddle; 1.7: ''I Don't Like Your Smell, Because Our Genes are Too Similar''; Chapter 17: The ABC of Aphrodisiacs; 1: A Little Help from My Friends; 1.1: E is for Eggs; 1.2: G is for Gele¦ e Royal and Ginseng; 1.3: L is for Licorice; 1.4: O is for Oysters; 1.5: P is for Papaverine Injections; 1.6: R is for Rhinoceros Horn; 1.7: S is for Spanish Fly; 1.8: T is for Tiririca; 1.9: V is for Vitamin E; 1.10: Y is for yohimbine; Chapter 18: Viagra & Co; 1: A Growing Problem; 1.1: The Discovery of Viagra; 1.2: The Penis as a Book-Keeper; 1.3: Viagra - Just What the Doctor Ordered?;1.4: Potent Drugs Fight Impotence; Chapter 19: Epilogue - Returning from the Airport; 1: The Important Thing is That The Chemistry Works - The Rest Remains a Miracle; Further Reading; Subject Index
