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Between the roses, the Champagne and the chocolates, couples sit down to an intimate candlelight dinner, stare soulfully into each other's eyes and perhaps take a moment to ponder a perennial question: Can this mad, mad love last?
戀人們在玫瑰香檳巧克力圍繞、深情對望、共進浪漫燭光晚餐的時刻，或許也還會花些時間想一個永恒的問題：這種感情是一時沖動嗎？這種愛是否會持續？
Whether they're in the heady throes of their fifth date or their 20th year of marriage, the answer, according to a recent study published in the online journal Social Cognitive and Effective Neuroscience, lies more in the neural patterns of their brains than in the poetry of their heart-shaped gifts.
根據最近發表在網絡期刊《社會認知與使用神經學（Social Cognitive and Effective Neuroscience）》上的一份研究，無論他們是第五次約會，還是結婚20周年了，這個答案更多的是取決于他們大腦中的神經模式，而不是他們所準備心形禮物中的詩意。
In the study, Bianca Acevedo and Arthur Aron at Stony Brook University in New York and two co-authors set out to investigate the age-old question that has baffled so many: Can the intense, heady head-over-heels romantic love experienced in the first flush of a relationship endure over time?
在研究中，斯托尼布魯克紐約分校的比安卡•阿塞維多和亞瑟•阿倫及另外兩位作者著手調查了這一由來已久又困擾許多人的問題：這種完全出于一時興起的強烈的浪漫愛情關系能否隨著時間的推移持續下去？
To attempt to find out, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of 10 women and seven men who claimed they were still "madly" in love with their spouse, even after an average of 21 years of marriage. Each viewed a picture of his or her beloved, and control pictures, including a close friend and lesser-known acquaintances. Brain activity was measured as participants looked at the facial images.
為了調查這一結果，他們使用了功能性磁共振成像的方法，掃描了10名女性和7名男性的腦部，他們的平均婚齡已有21年了，但都表示自己對另一半仍充滿愛意。每人在實驗中觀看他或她愛人的照片，以及一位親近朋友和不是太熟的熟人的對照圖片時，大腦活動就被記錄下來。
The researchers then compared these brain scans with those of people from an earlier experiment who said they'd fallen in love within the past year. They found the scans looked a lot alike.
之后，調查員將這次的結果與那些一年之內戀愛的參與者的早期實驗結果進行比較，他們發現掃描結果十分相近。
There were differences -- long-term romantic love lit up many more brain regions than early-stage love -- but both groups showed significant activity in the dopamine-rich ventral tegmental area.
也有一些不同——長期的浪漫愛情會比短期愛情調動大腦的更多區域，但是兩組都檢測到了多巴胺富集的腹側被蓋區的重要活動。
"For some, when they look at their partner, it looks almost as if their brain is on fire," said Acevedo.
阿塞維多說：“當看到他們的配偶時，其中的某些人的大腦看起來像著火一樣。”
The VTA -- which is a crucial part of the brain's motivation and reward circuit -- also illuminates in response to food, money, alcohol and cocaine.
腹側被蓋區是大腦中激勵與獎勵回路的重要部分，對食物、金錢、酒精和可卡因也會有反應。
The dopamine-laden VTA had already shown activity in six previous studies of those in early-stage love -- in relationships ranging from three weeks to 17 months -- but the Stony Brook study was the first to ever associate the VTA with long-term love. Acevedo and Aron take this as evidence that romantic love can endure.
之前六項有關戀愛3周到17個月的短期愛情的研究已經檢測到多巴胺富集的腹側被蓋區的活動，但是斯托尼布魯克的研究第一次將這一區域與長期愛情聯系起來。阿塞維多和阿倫將此作為浪漫愛情能夠延續的依據。
"A lot of times all we hear is our relationships are painful, and we suffer," said Acevedo. "But it's exciting to see there's a pattern in our brain that is associated with intense love," and that it appears in the long-in-love and the newly-in-love. "Love can last," said Acevedo." It doesn't wane. It doesn't disappear."
“許多時候，我們聽到的只有我們的關系是痛苦的，我們遭受著這樣的痛苦，”阿塞維多說。“但令人興奮的是，大腦中有一種模式與強烈的愛相關”，而且這一模式在長期和短期的愛情都出現了，“愛是可以持續的，”阿塞維多說，“它并不會衰退，也不會消失。”
The researchers also believe their study offers clues as to what may be essential brain activity for couples to stay in love.
研究人員還認為，這一研究對“戀人維持相愛關系的最根本的腦部活動是什么”提供了線索。
"It's a nice finding, because it shows in a way our brain is still a simple thing," said Dr. Marco Iacoboni, a neuroscientist at UCLA medical school who was not involved in the study. "Humans are so good at using sophisticated language to dissect emotions. But if we look at the way big systems in the brain respond, they seem to be much simpler than our behavior. The responses of the brain can be quite predictable."
“這是一個很好的發現，因為它表明在某種程度上，我們的大腦仍然是簡單的，”并未參與研究的加州大學洛杉磯分校醫學院神經系統學家馬爾科•伊科博尼這樣說，“人類在利用復雜的語言分析情感上十分在行，但當我們觀察腦部主要系統的反應時，會發現它們看起來比我們的行為要簡單的多。腦部反應能被準確地預測。”
But couples can lasso this predictability to keep the fire hot. They can take up activities that drive up dopamine -- a neurotransmitter associated with novelty and working for reward -- in such critical brain regions as the VTA. Kicking up that brain activity, in turn, increases feelings of romantic love.
但是夫妻可以運用這一可預測性保持愛情的甜蜜。他們可以進行一些能夠激發如腹側被蓋區等關鍵腦部區域中多巴胺分泌（一種與新奇和為獎賞而工作的神經遞質）相關的活動。活躍該腦部活動后，反過來將會增加他們愛情的甜密和美好感覺。
"Any kind of novelty, any activity that's new, exciting, challenging, possibly dangerous, will work," said Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University and a co-author of the study. Ride through New York City in a pedicab after dark, go night sailing, go nude swimming, study a new kind of music, take a vacation, go out to the airport or simply open a map book and run your finger down a page and choose a country.
“各種各樣新奇的，以及任何新鮮的、令人興奮的、充滿挑戰的、可能存在危險的活動都會起作用，”羅格斯大學的生物人類學家海倫•費舍爾說道，她也是這一研究的作者之一。天黑后騎三輪車穿越紐約城、在晚上航海、裸泳、學習一種新的音樂、去度假、去機場，或者只是打開一本地圖冊，隨意翻到一頁，選擇一個國家。
"It doesn't have to be that elaborate," said Fisher.
“這并不一定要精細設計，”費舍爾說。
"Any kind of sexual stimulation is good," she said. "Don't wait to feel sexy. Just get into bed with your partner."
“任何種類的性刺激都是有益的，”她說，“不要等著自己感到性感了，只需要與你的另一半一起上床。”
And, yes, the study's long-in-love marrieds said they had plenty of sex, or at least enough to set off a glow in the posterior hippocampus.
的確是這樣，研究中那些長期充滿愛的夫妻的性活動很多，至少足夠讓他們容光煥發。
Fisher believes the study has implications for people in all stages of love, not just the long-in-love couples.
費舍爾相信，這一研究對處于各個層次的人都有意義，不僅僅是老夫老妻們。
Online Dating and the Brain
網戀與大腦
Online daters should also take heed of what the study suggests about the workings of the brain's circuits, and become a little more patient, said Fisher
費舍爾說，網戀者也應該留心這一研究有關腦部回路的部分，并且更耐心一些。
"Brain circuitry can be triggered at any time," said Fisher, who's the scientific adviser to Chemistry.com, a division of Match.com. "A lot of people head into courtship looking for fireworks. Don't pass up a chance by dumping someone after a first date because you don't feel the fireworks. The fireworks can happen at any time and be maintained."
“腦部回路在任何時候都可能被觸發，”化學網的科學顧問費舍爾這樣說道，這一網站是紅娘網的一個分支。“許多人進入婚戀場所尋找一種感覺。不要在第一次約會時就因為沒有感覺而甩掉某個人，錯過了機會。這種火花可能在任何時候出現，并且持續下去。”
Despite the similarities in brain activity of the long-in-love and the newly-in-love, the study found some telling, although not surprising differences.
盡管長期有愛與短期有愛的人們的腦部活動有一些類似，但這一研究也發現它們之間是有一些不同。
For example, neural regions rich in opioids and serotonin, which relieve anxiety and pain and contribute to a sense of calm, did not light up for the newly-in-love.
比如那些富含類阿片與血清素的神經區域，它們能夠減輕焦慮與痛苦并可產生一種鎮定的感覺，在短期愛情中并沒有出現。
"In that early-love stage, you're in that state of exhilaration," said Fisher. "You talk till dawn. You become obsessed with 'What does he think?' 'Does he like me?' 'Does he think I'm fat?'"
費舍爾說：“在愛情的早期，你沉浸在愉悅之中，你徹夜長談，腦中充滿了 '他會怎么想？' '他喜歡我嗎？ ‘他認為我胖嗎？’的想法。”
Susan Heitler, a Denver clinical psychologist and author of "The Power of Two: Secrets to a Strong and Loving Marriage," explained further. "In a funny way, high, initial romantic love is associated with the almost negative feeling of anxiety, whereas you get the positive high without the anxiety with the long-term love."
蘇珊•海特樂，一位丹佛的臨床心理學家，也是《兩人的力量：穩固而充滿愛意的婚姻的秘密》作者，進一步解釋了這一問題, “滑稽的是，高調的最初的浪漫愛情與焦慮等負面感覺是相關的，然而跟自己的長期戀人之間則是一種沒有焦慮的正面感覺。”
The scans of the long-in-love also showed activity in brain regions associated with attachment, liking and bonding. "It's the same area of the brain that lights up when there's a positive attachment between a parent and a child," said Heitler. "That's not to say it's infantilizing. It's attachment connectedness and liking."
對于長久愛情的掃描結果也顯示了與依戀、喜愛和粘附相關的腦部區域活動。海特樂說：“這與父母與孩子之間的正面依戀相關的腦部活動區域相同，但這并不是說將之幼兒化，它說明了依戀與喜愛的相通性。”
Again, no action there for the newly-in-love folks. "They're not high in liking, and they're not high in attachment," said Heitler, who was not involved in the Stony Brook study.
如上一結果同樣，在短期愛情中沒有同樣的效果。“他們在喜愛與依戀上的結果并不明顯”，海特樂說道，她并沒有參加這一研究。
It seems that long-in-love marrieds can have the same intense, romantically tingly, sexy relationship as the besotted newly-in-love -- but without the anxiety, obsessive frenzy and disconnectedness.
相比愚笨的短期愛情來說，長久愛情同樣是緊張、浪漫、刺激、有性的關系，但卻沒有焦慮、執著的暴怒與分離。
原文鏈接：Will Your Love Last? Your Brain Might Hold the Answer.
