永远是我的：催产素可能帮助建立持久的爱情
作者：Luciana Gravotta 译者：蓬草（房季冬） 原文：科学的美国人 （Scientific American）2013年2月12日
如果丘比特学习过神经科学，他就会知道把他的箭瞄准大脑而不是心脏。最近的研究提示，如果想要爱情长久，丘比特最好把他的箭头沾上催产素。尽管科学家们早已知道这种激素对于拥有单一异性伙伴的鼠类保持专一至关重要，并且也了解它能够使人类之间更加信赖；现在他们更发现催产素对于我们如何保持浪漫的关系也是极端重要的。
一大把的新研究表明，催产素使我们更富于同情心，更乐于助人并且更加敞开我们的情感 -- 所有这些对于爱侣们庆祝许多次而不仅仅是一次情人节都是必要的。这些发现已经引导一些研究者去探索催产素是否能用于改善夫妻关系的治疗。
最初指向催产素可能是自然爱情粘合剂的证据来自于那些测量了爱侣体内催产素水平的研究者。以色列Bar-Ilan大学的心理学教授Ruth Feldman多年来一直研究催产素在母亲-儿女亲和力中的作用；她最近决定潜入一片没有航标的水域--浪漫的亲和力，着手比较新恋人和单身者体内催产素的水平。“催产素在热恋期的增高是我们见到的最高水平”，她提到一项她和合作者发表在心理神经内分泌学杂志上的研究。新恋人们的催产素水平是通常怀孕妇女水平的两倍。
催产素的水平也和保持恋爱关系的长度相关。具有最高催产素水平的恋人在六个月后仍然在一起。当Feldman请他们偷着笑着看呢……这种sztj共享的积极经历时，他们比低催产素的恋人们更加谐调。高促产素的恋人们能够完成对方的句子，一起笑，并且互相触摸。Feldman说还不清楚催产素是否是恋人们在六个月后仍保持结合的原因，也不清楚那些未能结合在一起的恋人们是否不能够激活催产素系统。
澄清这个问题的一个方法是施加催产素而不是仅仅测量其自然水平。在苏黎世大学的夫妻治疗专家和研究者Beate Ditzen所做的研究中，夫妻双方都通过鼻吸入催产素喷雾（这可以保证催产素到达脑内）。然后Ditzen让他们互相谈论一些双方都认为互不一致或有冲突的话题，比如谁做家务或怎样支配自由时间。Ditzen进一步观察他们如何交谈并将其与未接受催产素的夫妻们比较。
Ditzen与其合作者们首先发现催产素在男女双方都改善了交往并降低了考地松（一种应激激素）的水平。但在最近发表在《社会认知和情感神经科学》上的一项研究中，Ditzen及其合作者们测量了唾液alpha-amylase （sAA) -- 一种与社会应激相关的酶 -- 之后发现男女反应不同。接受催产素后，妇女表现出sAA降低，而男子表现出sAA增高并报告感觉到更强烈的情绪活动。与直觉相反，这些男子在冲突中表现出更好的交流水平：他们微笑更多，目光接触更多，并且更能敞开内心的感受。这些行为对和平解决冲突是关键的。
研究表明男性更倾向于在于异性伙伴的冲突中退却，这会导致交流的破裂和双方对于相互关系的不满。Ditzen认为在她的实验中，接受催产素男子的更高情绪唤醒可能导致他们与伴侣进行更投入的交流。
尽管新的研究结果提供了催产素影响情侣交流方式的证据，Ditzen提醒这并没有告诉我们催产素直接地引起了这些变化。
另一条有关催产素在爱情中作用的证据来自于遗传学。Feldman说，“关于激素你可以说也许行为产生了激素或者激素产生了行为 -- 我们不知道。” 但是一个人的基因在任何行为显现之前就早已存在了，她补充道。
去年一项发表在《生物精神病学》上面的研究首先首先鉴定了催产素受体有变异的人群与没有变异的人群相比是否在保持浪漫关系方面存在困难。Hasse Walum，斯德哥尔摩卡洛林斯卡研究所的一名研究生，和他的合作者研究了瑞典双生子研究项目中的几千名参加者，他们的遗传信息，以及参加者对其浪漫情侣的情感有多深等问题的回答。他们发现存在某一特定变异的女性与没有这种变异的女性相比距离她们的伴侣更疏远：接吻的次数更少，并且更经常地不愿意接近对方的身体。这些女性报告有婚姻问题的可能性也更高。尽管研究者们还不了解这种变异如何影响了催产素系统，但它很可能导致脑内催产素受体水平的降低。受体水平低的人群会对催产素的作用不敏感。
在一项尚未发表的研究中，Feldman发现催产素受体也与情侣间的移情活动相关联。她观察了能够增加自闭症危险的催产素受体基因变异，自闭症是一种存在重大社会交往缺陷的疾患。她发现带有越多的这些“风险性变异”人，对伴侣表达悲伤时产生的移情（同情）就越少。
研究表明，催产素可以帮助自闭症患者改善对于情绪的认知；Wallman发现增加婚姻危机的催产素受体的同样变异也和女孩的社会问题有关联。这些问题包括与他人交往的摩擦和倾向于独处。这项观察和Feldman关于催产素在母婴亲和力中重要性的研究提示，催产素对爱情交流的影响更胜于其对爱情浪漫因素的影响。
Adam Guastella是悉尼大学脑和心理研究所的一位心理学家，也是研究催产素如何能够帮助患者的先驱；他认为催产素也能够在伴侣治疗中通过促进移情交流来帮助人们。他的研究表明，接受催产素的人们更加注重于积极的情绪：他们对于喜悦面孔的记忆胜于对于愤怒和中性面孔的记忆。其他人的研究表明，催产素能够增加信任，慷慨和我们从面部表情中识别情绪的能力。也许通过这些机制，催产素可以改善交往。
Gustella及其团队刚刚完成了一项尚未发表的研究，该研究首次在治疗中检验了催产素对伴侣的作用。在其实验的一部分是要求伴侣们讨论一个“热点”，也就是通常引起双方冲突的话题，然后再试图解决这个问题。尽管资料分析仍在行，Gustella期望，接受催产素的伴侣们能够对于问题表现出较少的敌意解释，对对方表现较少的批评。 他认为总体上催产素将增加视角，减少抱怨，导致更平稳的交流和问题的更好解决。
如何才能够做到这一点？Feldman认为，这些行为其实和催产素紧密地联结于一种正反馈的环路。她这样说道，“催产素能够激发爱的行为，而给予和接受爱的行为也可以促进催产素的释放并导致更多这样的行为”她认为会话治疗本身可以促进催产素的释放，但承认在某些情况下施加催产素可以帮助启动这种反馈通路。如果Gustella的研究结果支持这个假说，会话治疗和催产素治疗相结合可能是打破伴侣间交流障碍的最佳处方，尤其是针对那些在童年就学会的行为。
尽管研究已经显示好的交流预示成功的关系，在伴侣治疗中好的交流并不能确保伴侣们长久相伴。这里的目的是帮助两个人理解对方的观点并达成双向的决定，即便是走向分手。 Gustella说，“如果人们根本就没有结合在一起，催产素并不能强迫他们结合在一起。” 译者注释
[1] 丘比特。丘比特是古希腊罗马神话中的小爱神（古希腊名字Έρως，中文翻译一般是爱罗斯，罗马名丘比特）。丘比特用金箭射中谁，谁就产生爱情；他用铅箭射中谁，谁就产生怨恨。
[2] 催产素。催产素下丘脑内神经细胞产生的一种肽类激素，经神经纤维运送到脑垂体后叶，在那里释放。催产素如其名所示可以在母亲分娩时大量释放，促进子宫收缩，加速分娩。催产素除作用于子宫之外也可以作用于脑内的神经细胞。近年来的许多研究表明，催产素也可以被看作是一种社会激素和爱情激素。在分娩过程中产生的催产素可以增强母爱。以上译文着重描述了催产素在爱情方面的作用。
[3] 移情。移情是感受另外一个有情感或想象个体的情绪的能力。移情的英文词Empathy是由心理学家铁钦纳（EdwardBradford Titchener）于1909年首次创造出来的。这个词也被翻译成“同理心”。Empathy这个英文词是从希腊词ἐμπάθεια(empatheia)演化来的，有慈爱、激情和偏爱等含义。这个术语被Hermann Lotze和RobertVischer采用，创造了德文词Einfühlung（“感受进去”），后者再由铁钦纳翻译成英文empathy。其后，英文empathy再翻译回德文成为Empathie。
移情有多种多样的定义：从帮助别人和期望助人；感受与他人情绪相匹配的情绪（情同此心），认知他人的思想和感受；彼此融合；文学作品中的“情景交融”和“物我两忘”，等等。西方关于移情的美学理论是首先由美学家朱光潜先生介绍到中国的。季羡林先生就曾经回忆到，听朱光潜先生讲移情等美学理论，感觉收获很大。
移情包括情绪移情和认知移情两种成分。情绪移情是对他人心理状态产生情绪反应。认知移情是鉴别他人的心理状态。认知移情与心智理论（theory of mind）常常替代使用。近年来，不少中文文章应用“同理心”一词。这个词似乎用来描述认知移情更为恰当。以往人们以为只有黑猩猩和大猩猩等大猿和人类才有移情的能力。近几年的研究表明，鼠类也有移情的能力。至少对于情绪移情来说是如此。
英文原文
Be Mine Forever: Oxytocin May Help Build Long-Lasting Love Scientific American, February 12, 2013 The hormone oxytocin increases empathy and communication,key to sustaining a relationship between mates
By Luciana Gravotta
If cupid had studied neuroscience, he’d know to aim his arrows at the brain rather than the heart. Recent research suggests that forlove to last, it’s best he dip those arrows in oxytocin. Although scientists have long known that this hormone is essential for monogamous rodents to stay true to their mates, and that it makes humans more trusting toward one another,they are now finding that it is also crucial to how we form and maintain romantic relationships.
A handful of new studies show that oxytocin makes us moresympathetic, supportive and open with our feelings—all necessary for couples to celebrate not just one Valentine’s Day, but many. These findings have led some researchers to investigate whether oxytocin can be used in couple therapy.
The first bit of evidence that points to oxytocin as natures love glue comes from researchers who measured the hormone in couples. Psychology professor Ruth Feldman at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, spent years studying oxytocin’s role in the mother–child bond and recently decided to diveinto the uncharted waters of romantic bonds by comparing oxytocin levels in new lovers and singles. “The increase in oxytocin during the period of falling inlove was the highest that we ever found,” she says of a study she and her colleagues published in Psychoneuroendocrinology. New lovers had double theamount Feldman usually sees in pregnant women.
Oxytocin was also correlated with the longevity of a relationship. Couples with the highest levels were the ones still together sixmonths later. They were also more attuned to each other than the low-oxytocin couples when Feldman asked them to talk about a shared positive experience. The High-oxytocin couples finished each other’s sentences, laughed together and touched each other more often. Feldman says it’s still not clear whetheroxytocin was responsible for the stability of the couple’s bond six months later or if couples who weren’t as connected failed to trigger the oxytocin system.
One way to clarify that question is to give individualsoxytocin rather than just measure naturally occurring levels. In experiments by couple therapist and researcher Beate Ditzen at the University of Zurich,couples each sprayed a liquid containing oxytocin up their noses (which ensures that the hormone reaches the brain). Ditzen then got them to talk with each other about an issue that both partners said often lead to disagreement orfighting, such as who did the housework or how they spent their free time. Sheobserved how they communicated with each other during the discussion comparedwith couples who didn’t get the hormone. The first time Ditzen and her colleagues did this experiment they found that for both men and women oxytocin improved communication andlowered cortisol, a stress hormone. But in a recent study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Ditzen and her colleagues measured salivaryalpha-amylase (sAA)—an enzyme tied specifically to social stress—and found thatmen and women responded differently. Women who got oxytocin showed a decrease in sAA whereas men showed an increase and reported feeling more intenseemotions. Counterintuitively, these men were also better at communication during conflict: they smiled more, had more eye-contact and were more open about their feelings. These behaviors are essential for peaceful conflict resolution.
Research shows that men tend to withdraw during conflict with their mate, which leads to a breakdown in communication and relationship dissatisfaction on both sides. Ditzen thinks the higher emotional arousal that oxytocin-infused men experience in her experiment may result in more engagement with their partner and thus more communication.
Although the new results provide evidence that oxytocininfluences the way couples interact, Ditzen warns that it doesn’t tell us whether oxytocin is directly causing these behaviors.
A different line of evidence about oxytocin’s role in love comes from genetics. “With hormones you can say that maybe behavior created the hormone or the hormone created the behavior—we don’t know,” Feldman says. But aperson’s genes are in place before any behavior can emerge, she notes.
A study published last year in Biological Psychiatry was thefirst to assess whether people with variations in their oxytocin-receptor gene have a harder time maintaining romantic relationships than those who don’t. Hasse Walum, a graduate student at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and his colleagues took advantage of Swedish twin studies that included thousands of participants, their genetic information and their answers to questions abouthow affectionate they were with their romantic partners. They found that women with a specific variation weren’t as close to their partners as women withoutit: they kissed their partners less and didn’t desire physical proximity asoften. These women were also more likely to report having had a marital crisis. Although researchers don’t know exactly how this variation affects the oxytocinsystem, it may result in a lower number of oxytocin receptors in the brain.People with fewer receptors would be less sensitive to the hormone’s effects.
In a study that hasn’t been published yet, Feldman found that oxytocin receptor genes are also linked to empathy in couples. She looked at variants in the gene that have been linked with an increased risk for autism, a disorder that is marked by major social communication deficits. She Found that the more of these “risk variants” a person had, the less empathy they showed toward their partner when that partner shared a distressing experience.
Oxytocin has been shown to help people with autism improve their ability to recognize emotion, and Wallum found that the same receptor variant that increases risk for marital crisis in women is linked to social problems in girls. These include trouble getting along with others and apreference for being alone. This and Feldman’s work on oxytocin’s importance for the mother–child bond suggests that the hormone is more involved in the communication component of love between couples than the romantic component oflove.
Adam Guastella, a clinical psychologist at University of Sudney's Brain and Mind Research Institute, and a pioneer in studies of how oxytocin can help people with autism, thinks the hormone can also help peoplein couple therapy by facilitating empathic communication. His research hasshown that people who get oxytocin are more focused on positive emotion: they remember happy faces better than angry and neutral ones. Research by others has shown that oxytocin increases trust, generosity and our ability to identify emotion in facial expressions. It is perhaps by these mechanisms that the hormone improves communication.
Guastella and his team just completed an unpublished study that is the first to test the effects of oxytocin on couples in therapy. In one part of the study, couples were asked to discuss a “hot topic,” one thatusually led to conflict between the pair, and to then try to solve the issue. Although the data analysis is still in progress, Guastella expects couples thatgot oxytocin to show less hostile interpretations of the problem and be lesscritical of their partners. He thinks overall it will increase perspective-taking and reduce blame, leading to smoother communication andbetter problem-solving.
How would that work? Feldman thinks that these types of behaviors are intimately linked with oxytocin in a positive feedback loop.“Oxytocin can elicit loving behaviors, but giving and receiving these behaviors also promotes the release of oxytocin and leads to more of these behaviors,”she says. She thinks that talk therapy alone can boost the oxytocin system, but admits that in some cases it might help to jump-start the feedback loop by administering oxytocin. If Guastella’s results support his hypothesis, talk and hormone therapy together might be the best recipe for breaking down dysfunctional communication between partners, especially in cases where the behaviors have been learned in childhood.
Although research has shown that good communication predicts relationship success, successful communication in couples therapy won’t ensurethat partners stay together. The goal is to help the two people understand eachother’s point of view and come to a mutual decision, even if it’s to break up.“If people are not connected at all, then oxytocin is not going to force that connection,” Guastella says.
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