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November 17, 2006

Strange But True!

Q. When it comes to romantic love, what is our most important body part? Woody Allen once joked this was his “second favorite organ.”

A. Don't laugh, it's our 3-pound brain, says anthropologist Helen Fisher in “Why We Love.” Fully one-third of our 33,000 human genes are devoted to brain functions. With our huge prefrontal cortex and its “combinatorial explosion” of connections, we assemble facts, solve problems, weigh options, make decisions, plan ahead. We also add meaning and emotional value to our thoughts. This is the brain region that lends us almost infinite capacity to think about “him” or “her” and to feel keen pleasures as well as fears, rage, aversion.


 
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