OrangeSkin Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 I was watching "The World's Most Extreme Lovers" on Animal Planet recently (don't ask, I was bored). Anyway, I found it interesting how the body releases dopamine and seratonin when one falls in love, and the initial rush is pretty much equal to a 24 hour a day cocaine buzz. Sweaty palms, pounding heart, stuttering, etc. can be attributed to the chemicals as well. Which got me thinking, is it possible to make a love potion of sorts with these chemicals? The thought of it kind of freaks me out...we'd have mobsters running around doing "love jobs" for people who want to get married to a specific person. Perhaps somebody who is more qualified in chemistry could discern the probability of this happening someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen-like Todd Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 The short answer is that its not that simple. Dopamine and Serotonin are neurotransmitters, meaning that when a neuron fires, it releases these NTs, and they attach to receptors on adjacent neurons. There are many drugs out there that work by either imitating dopamine, lowering the added PE difference necessary for the action potential to be reached and have that neuron fire. Those are called agonists, and can have some of the effects that you are mentioning. Of course, you also get that when you score a touchdown, or perhaps smoke a cig. Pleasure and love are not such simple relations. There are also, btw, another class of drugs that bind to the receptors, blocking them, but not activating any of the ion channels, and basically preventing those neurons from firing so much. Those are called antagonists, unsurprisingly. Anyways, semi-geeky answer, probably not exactly what you were looking for. Short answer, of course moods can be altered. Achieving precisely the effect you are looking for (btw, first you have to define love, perhaps you just mean attraction), is a tricky mess, considering the # of neurons in the brain, and the fact that each neuron can be connected to n # of other neurons (where n can be a very large #), one has to be careful. BTW, although you hear all kinds of crap about pheromones, and all types of bs prods are released posing as such, they really do exhibit amazing control over behavior. Perhaps you can order some from the back of Pop Sci and hope its real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeSkin Posted January 9, 2003 Author Share Posted January 9, 2003 Now I remember why I failed both biology AND chemistry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 I think the short answer to your question is "yes". Someday there may be a package labled "joy" or "euphoria" or some such thing. There will eventually even be your own personal mixture to buy. Human beings just love trying to imitate or even better reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yomar Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 If you want the real dope on this issue, I suggest renting "Love Potion #9" at your local video store btw, I'm not as confident in your vision of the future redman, but just think how emotionally confusing everything would be. Instead of staring in disbelief/anguish at the next Redskins game deciding gaffe, I can just take a swig of the latest emotoshake labeled "Super Bowl Champions" and feel peachy keen about the whole thing. Finally a better alternative to alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 Yomar- in an age when people are making concerted - and more and more realistic - efforts to clone human beings, I don't think there's much that's unbelievable about what I'm proposing. Note that I don't predict a timeframe for this. I'm just saying that at some point there will be such products, however effective or ineffective, etc. they may be. Heck, the current "herbal supplement" market, which promises among other things penile enlargement if one pops a few pills, is only a step or two short of that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 No need for it. There is already a great love potion......booze. The great equalizer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yomar Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 oh I'm not saying its not feasible, I'm just speculating on its effects...if you could control your emotional state independent of outside stimulus, what would that mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.