Your neurons love!

© Paul De Koninck, www.greenspine.ca


Neurons in science news again this Tuesday. Nigella Lawson's neurons cook quick gourmet chicken. Virginia Woolf's wrote The Waves and went a little wonky. What is it the little buggers won't do? Evidently, according to a fluff piece in the Science Times by Tara Parker-Pope, they will also revive tired marriages. That's right, and novelty is the key.

The theory is based on brain science. New experiences activate the brain's reward system, flooding it with dopamine and norepinephrine. These are the same brain circuits that are ignited in early romantic love, a time of exhilaration and obsessive thoughts about a new partner. (They are also the brain chemicals involved in drug addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder.)

Novelty will reignite your romance-associated brain circuits, folks, which will in turn re-fluff your flaccid marriage or other relationship. That's brought to you by brain science, the new psychology.