来源：《新科学家》
原文刊登日期：2022年2月9日
The experience of love is underpinned by four neurochemicals: oxytocin, dopamine, beta-endorphin and serotonin. Oxytocin is key at the start of relationships because it lowers our inhibitions to making new bonds, then dopamine motivates and rewards us for carrying out this survival critical behaviour. Serotonin underpins the obsessive elements of love, while beta-endorphin addicts us to love in the long term.
爱情的体验由四种神经化学物质支撑：催产素、多巴胺、β-内啡肽和血清素。催产素在建立情爱关系之初很关键，因为它降低了我们对建立新关系的抑制，然后多巴胺会激励并奖励我们进行这种对生存至关重要的行为。血清素支撑着爱情的强迫性元素，而β-内啡肽则使我们长期沉迷于爱情。
Drugs that may be capable of mimicking love are already in use. The first, oxytocin, is utilised to induce labour, but research shows that it can also increase sociability, trust and empathy. The second is recreational drug MDMA, which is capable of inducing empathy and love for our fellow humans.
能够模仿爱情的药物已经在使用。第一种是用于引产的催产素，研究表明它也可以增加社交能力、信任度和同情心。第二种是娱乐性药物MDMA，它能够引发对人类同胞的同情和爱。
Arguably, taking a drug to induce or maintain love is no different to taking an antidepressant, because both supplement neurochemicals that naturally exist in our bodies. Add to this the link between having healthy relationships and good mental and physical well-being, and prescribing these drugs could revolutionise someone’s quality of life. But whether these drugs work is dependent on the individual.
可以说，服用药物来诱导或维持爱情与服用抗抑郁药没有什么不同，因为两者都补充了我们身体中自然存在的神经化学物质。除此之外，拥有健康的情爱关系和良好的身心健康之间的联系，加上开这些药可能会彻底改变一个人的生活质量。但这些药物是否有效取决于个体。
For a significant minority of people, recent research has found that oxytocin leads to increased social confidence and trust, meaning that they are more likely to form new relationships. For some, it has the opposite effect and studies have shown that it can cause negative interactions and even racism. Some people feel the impact of MDMA and others don’t.
最近的研究发现，对于相当一部分人来说，催产素能增强他们的社交自信和信任，这意味着他们更有可能建立新的关系。对一些人来说，它有相反的效果，研究表明，它可能会导致负面的互动，甚至种族主义。有些人感觉到了MDMA的影响，而有些人则没有。
This raises many ethical questions. It might be fine to decide to take a love drug yourself, because that is your risk, but is it fair when it affects someone else’s life? Where there are power imbalances in a relationship, or even abuse, could one party be coerced by the other to take the drug? And what if one of you stops and the other doesn’t?
这引发了许多伦理问题。自己决定服用爱情药可能没问题，因为你自己承担风险，但当它影响到其他人的生活时，这合适吗？当一段关系中存在权力失衡，甚至出现虐待时，一方会被另一方强迫服药吗？如果你们中的一个停药而另一个不停呢？
Those who argue for the use of love drugs sometimes say these risks are minimal because use of the drugs would be regulated. But this is an overly utopian view of the world and our behaviour.
那些支持使用爱情药的人有时会说，这些风险很小，因为药物的使用将受到监管。但这是对世界和我们行为的一种过于理想化的看法。
While being in love is wonderful, losing love can be debilitating. Drugs might be able to help here too. What if we could find a drug that would inhibit our feelings of love or erase painful memories?
恋爱固然是美好的，失去爱却会使人衰弱。药物或许也能起到作用。如果我们能找到一种药物，可以抑制我们的爱的感觉或抹去痛苦的记忆呢？
One possibility is antidepressants known as SSRIs. People who take them for depression report loss of libido and reduced emotional reactions. Could we harness these aspects and, with a bit of tweaking, make a love-inhibiting drug? Maybe. But anecdotal evidence – reported in book Love is the Drug – that SSRIs are being prescribed to young men in strict religious communities to repress homosexuality should sound a warning bell. Not everyone will stick to prescribing rules.
一种可能是被称为SSRIs的抗抑郁药。因抑郁症而服用该药物的人报告称性欲减退，情绪反应减少。我们能否利用这些方面，稍加调整，制造出一种抑制爱情的药物？也许吧。但是，在《爱是药》一书中报道的坊间证据表明，在严格的宗教团体中，为了抑制同性恋会给年轻男性开SSRIs类药物，这应该敲响警钟。不是每个人都会遵守处方规则。
With all innovations comes the responsibility to explore both the positives and negatives of their impact. Love is so central to our lives that it is crucial that we decide what we would accept and what is unconscionable before the force of science and commerce runs away with us.
对于所有的创新，我们都有责任探索其影响的积极和消极方面。爱在我们的生活中是如此重要，以至于我们对科学和商业的力量想入非非之前，我们必须决定什么是可以接受的，什么是违背良心的。