Lecture examines brain chemistry and romantic attraction.

Explorer. Builder. Director. Negotiator.

Each of us can be characterized by the names Helen Fisher has given to behavior styles associated with chemical systems in the brain. That biological temperament helps you to decide whom to love, Fisher said during a talk May 5 at Binghamton University.

"What does somebody mean when they say, "We had good chemistry?'" she asked.

Fisher, a research professor and a member of the Center for Human Evolution Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University, is considered one of the world's leading experts on the evolution and biology of love, sexuality and attraction. She has written five books on the subject and has been featured on shows such as 20/20 and The View. Fisher's talk was sponsored by the University's Evolutionary Studies Program (EvoS).

In previous research, Fisher has found three brain systems for human reproductive behavior: sex drive, romantic love and attachment. Any one of the three systems is able to start a relationship, she said.

Fisher's latest efforts are with Chemistry.com; she serves as chief scientific adviser for the dating site, an offshoot of Match.com.

The brain system is going to be triggered, but why does one person trigger that system and not another? she asked. Match.com came to me and asked that question. I said that I don't know. Nobody knows.

Fisher examined the issue, tied brain chemicals to personality traits and conducted a study of about 40,000 people. Explorers are impulsive, energetic, creative men and women who are expressive of dopamine. Examples would be Angelina Jolie and President Obama.

When he talked about change, we felt like he meant it, Fisher said of Obama. It's part of his DNA.

Builders, expressive of serotonin, are managerial, cautious, loyal and calm. Think Colin Powell or Tiger Woods. Directors, expressive of testosterone, are direct, tough-minded, independent and competitive. John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton served as Fishers examples. Negotiators, expressive of estrogen and oxytocin, are imaginative, agreeable and intuitive, Fisher said. Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton fall into this category.

"(Clinton) is emotionally expressive, cant stop talking and is well known for saying 'I feel your pain,'" she said.

The Clintons are an example of opposites attracting, Fisher said. Negotiators tend to be drawn to directors and vice versa. But they are the exceptions in a funnel of love in which potential partners are weeded out first by things such as looks, voices and economic needs, Fisher said.

At some point in this funnel, your basic body chemistry is pulling you toward certain kinds of people, she said. They are drawn to people like themselves.

Using her and her colleagues brain-scan studies (fMRI) of men and women who are happily in love, rejected in love and in love long term, she discussed the basic traits of romantic love and the evolution of love-at-first-sight,
addiction to love and how SSRI antidepressants can jeopardize the brainsystems for romantic love and attachment. She then focused on her current research with the Internet dating site, Chemistry.com. To view the complete lecture, visit: [ Ссылка ].

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