Some science has immediate currency and value.
Some science worthy of long discussion.
Some science has it own thread.
Here is a place for science that is interesting but may not have another home.
To begin: Anti-depressants and sexuality
Lust, Romance, Attachment: Do The Side Effects Of Serotonin-Enhancing Antidepressants Jeopardize Romantic Love, Marriage & Fertility?
Helen Fisher and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr.
Abstract:
Today millions of people take serotonin-enhancing antidepressants. These medications cause emotional blunting and dysfunction in sexual desire, arousal and orgasm in both men and women. We propose that these antidepressants have other side effects, due to their impact on several related neural mechanisms. Homo sapiens has evolved three distinct brain systems for courtship, reproduction and parenting. The sex drive evolved to motivate men and women to initiate sexual contact with a range of partners; romantic love evolved to motivate them to focus their courtship energy on specific individuals, thereby conserving mating time and energy; partner attachment evolved to motivate our forebears to maintain a stable mateship long enough to rear a child through infancy together. Studies using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) indicate that romantic love is associated with dopaminergic pathways in the brain’s reward system, pathways that are suppressed by elevated central serotonin. Hence we hypothesize that serotonin-enhancing antidepressants can jeopardize one’s ability to fall in love. Due to their impact on the sex drive, these medications can also jeopardize other brain/body mechanisms that enhance mate assessment, mate choice, pair formation and partner attachment. This paper discusses the biological relationships between the sex drive, romantic love and attachment, as well as other evolved reproductive mechanisms, to illustrate how serotonin-enhancing antidepressants can jeopardize feelings of romance, attachment and fertility.
The paper is long and detailed. It is not paywalled.
https://helenfisher.com/lust-romanc...-jeopardize-romantic-love-marriage-fertility/
Some science worthy of long discussion.
Some science has it own thread.
Here is a place for science that is interesting but may not have another home.
To begin: Anti-depressants and sexuality
Lust, Romance, Attachment: Do The Side Effects Of Serotonin-Enhancing Antidepressants Jeopardize Romantic Love, Marriage & Fertility?
Helen Fisher and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr.
Abstract:
Today millions of people take serotonin-enhancing antidepressants. These medications cause emotional blunting and dysfunction in sexual desire, arousal and orgasm in both men and women. We propose that these antidepressants have other side effects, due to their impact on several related neural mechanisms. Homo sapiens has evolved three distinct brain systems for courtship, reproduction and parenting. The sex drive evolved to motivate men and women to initiate sexual contact with a range of partners; romantic love evolved to motivate them to focus their courtship energy on specific individuals, thereby conserving mating time and energy; partner attachment evolved to motivate our forebears to maintain a stable mateship long enough to rear a child through infancy together. Studies using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) indicate that romantic love is associated with dopaminergic pathways in the brain’s reward system, pathways that are suppressed by elevated central serotonin. Hence we hypothesize that serotonin-enhancing antidepressants can jeopardize one’s ability to fall in love. Due to their impact on the sex drive, these medications can also jeopardize other brain/body mechanisms that enhance mate assessment, mate choice, pair formation and partner attachment. This paper discusses the biological relationships between the sex drive, romantic love and attachment, as well as other evolved reproductive mechanisms, to illustrate how serotonin-enhancing antidepressants can jeopardize feelings of romance, attachment and fertility.
The paper is long and detailed. It is not paywalled.
https://helenfisher.com/lust-romanc...-jeopardize-romantic-love-marriage-fertility/