The spirit of this type of argument is libertarian: in general, individuals should have the freedom to alter their own brain states-through drugs or other means-so long as they do not harm or infringe upon the rights of others ( see a previous post by me on this subject). It’s called “the cuddle chemical” in schlocky media reports, for obvious reasons. Oxytocin, if you haven’t heard of it, is a hormone that’s normally expressed through orgasm and breastfeeding. They then showed how doing things like spraying oxytocin up your nose (under controlled conditions-maybe with the help of a marriage counselor, for instance, and while staring into your spouse’s eyes) could work at the level of the brain to encourage love and improve the connection between romantic partners. They rested their argument on the principle of marital autonomy, which just means-in their words-that couples “should be free to shape their relationship in the way which best fits them.” That includes, of course, through the use of chemical substances. In a 2008 essay on this subject, Julian Savuelscu and Anders Sandberg made a case for the neuroenhancement of love and marriage. They think that it’s time we shifted from merely describing this circuitry, and actually intervened in it directly-by altering our brains pharmacologically, through the use of what they call “love drugs.” In fact, we’re beginning to understand quite a bit about the cerebral circuitry involved in love, lust, and human attachment-so much so that a couple of Oxford philosophers have been inspired to suggest something pretty radical. My humble reckoning is that there’s more to “the state we call love” than hormones and neurotransmitters, but it’s true that brain chemistry is heavily involved in shaping our experience of amour. Researchers using MRIs to look at the brain activity of the smitten have found that an interplay of hormones and neurotransmitters create the state we call love. It turns out that love truly is a chemical reaction. The penner of this particular piece, Judith Newman, sums up the relevant research like this: Valentine’s day has passed, and along with it the usual rush of articles on “the neuroscience of love” – such as this one from Parade magazine. Love and other drugs, or why parents should chemically enhance their marriages
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