What is your impression of this couple?
Are they:
Trusting?
Committed?
Intimate?
Romantic?
Sociable?
Serotonin and Intimacy
How you rate their level of intimacy may relate to the level of serotonin activity in your brain. An ingenious study showed that increased serotonin levels influence the perception of relationships. Here is an excerpt:
Close supportive relationships protect against psychological disorders and also facilitate recovery. … Variation in serotonin function influences affiliative behavior in humans and nonhuman primates. Here, we used tryptophan depletion in healthy adults to investigate the role of serotonin in the cognitive appraisal of close personal relationships.
… central serotonin activity influences the appraisal of close intimate partnerships, raising the possibility that serotonergic dysfunction contributes to altered cognition about relationships in psychiatric illnesses.*
Biological Psychiatry. 2011 Apr 15;69(8):720-5. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.12.038.
Bilderbeck AC, McCabe C, Wakeley J, McGlone F, Harris T, Cowen PJ, Rogers RD.
Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom.
PMID: 21396628. NIH, NLM, PubMed access to MEDLINE
Higher levels of serotonin also promote positive social interactions. This study shows that when tryptophan absorption is low, mood swings and impulsive disorders are likely while …”Higher levels of serotonin may help to promote more constructive social interactions by decreasing aggression and increasing dominance.”
The role of serotonin in human mood and social interaction. Insight from altered tryptophan levels.
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior. 2002 Apr;71(4):857-65.Young SN, Leyton M.
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, H3A 1A1, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
PMID: 11888576. NIH, NLM, PubMed access to MEDLINE
Serotonin and Longevity
The “longevity” personality identified in some studies indicates that higher serotonin activity may confer a longevity advantage. Common characteristics identified among centenarians – extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness – are associated with increased serotonin production.
In fact, a Genetic variation in the serotonin transporter gene and longevity leads to longer life in some people.
Increasing Serotonin
Serotonin’s influence on positive behavioral characteristics and longevity is an important reason for integrating serotonin production into your lifestyle. LivingTheCRWay includes many resources for that: The NutriBase 10 CR Way edition software, the recipe section under Delicious Foods and The CR Way to Happy Dieting, the multimedia e-book provided to all full members under Delicious Food .
The teleconference that begins the CR Way to Healthful Weight Loss membership includes quite a bit of information about how serotonin influences mood and satiety and how to increase it. People often approach weight loss with great emotional challenges. Knowing how to increase serotonin levels may make the difference between dieting success and just going back to eating unhealthful comfort foods. It also might mean the difference between getting to be a centenarian or not.
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