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Radiolab

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
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  • brain

    This is Your Brain On Love

    Radio Lab is given the charge to put on a Singles Night. That's right. "Jad," they said, "stand on a stage and make strangers fall in love! Or, at least, you know, exchange a few phone numbers with each other." So obviously, we turned to science. Jad consults a few experts on the chemistry of a "brain on love."

brain

Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Oxytocin

(Oh my). Jad turns to Washington Post writer Neely Tucker and Rutgers anthropologist Helen Fisher to explain the chemistry of love. With their help, we are introduced to three different brain chemicals (Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Oxytocin) that play a part in concocting Romantic Love. Musical signatures by "i am jen".

Why We Love: the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love by Helen Fisher
Neely Tucker's Washington Post article about Helen Fisher's work
HEAR MORE MUSIC by "i am jen"

telescope

Your Brain on Love, in Space

The emotional state of love is a very physical one too. Ann Druyan--widow of astronaut Carl Sagan--tells the story of a physical record of love, her love, that makes its way through space. Can the fleeting moment of new love--heart pulses, jittery senses--be imprinted into a physical eternity? This piece was originally broadcast as part of a Radio Lab hour on Space.

Ann Druyan talks about science and spirit, in space
Voyager Golden Record

Extra, Extra

And if you haven't gotten your fix of "Your Brain on Love," take a peek at what others said about it. For some reason, the press was eager to cover our night of science, love, public radio, and nervous singles.

New York Mag: "Wait Wait, Don't Hit on Me!"
The Villager 's profile of Jad
nerve.com goes undercover to Radio Lab singles night