the details of what is going on—the vole story, as it were—is a fascinating one.when prairie voles have sex, two hormones called oxytocin and vasopressin are released.if the release of these hormones is blocked, prairie-voles' sex becomes a fleeting affair, like that normally enjoyed by their rakish montane cousins.conversely, if prairie voles are given an injection of the hormones, but prevented from having sex, they will still form a preference for their chosen partner.in other words, researchers can make prairie voles fall in love—or whatever the vole equivalent of this is—with an injection.
像往常一樣,最讓人著魔的是田鼠愛情故事的進展細節(jié)。當(dāng)草原田鼠性交時,其體內(nèi)會釋放兩種稱作催產(chǎn)素和抗利尿激素的荷爾蒙。如果這些荷爾蒙的釋放被阻斷,草原田鼠的性生活便成了短暫的艷遇,它們就會像生性放蕩的山區(qū)堂兄那樣去盡享受風(fēng)流韻事。相反,如果給草原田鼠注射以上荷爾蒙,雖然阻止它們性交,它們依然會鐘情于已選擇的伴侶。換句話說, 不過就一劑注射,研究者們便能讓草原田鼠落入情網(wǎng),不管草原田鼠的感覺如何,反正它們會產(chǎn)生與愛相類似的神經(jīng)反應(yīng)。