Grace Jones had it right:
In an analysis of the images appearing today in The Journal of Neurophysiology, researchers in New York and New Jersey argue that romantic love is a biological urge distinct from sexual arousal.
This research specifically covers infatuation, the time period in which one may actually devote 3-4 hours developing the perfect mix tape to snare one’s beloved.
It is closer in its neural profile to drives like hunger, thirst or drug craving, the researchers assert, than to emotional states like excitement or affection. As a relationship deepens, the brain scans suggest, the neural activity associated with romantic love alters slightly, and in some cases primes areas deep in the primitive brain that are involved in long-term attachment.
…This distinction, between finding someone attractive and desiring him or her, between liking and wanting, “is all happening in an area of the mammalian brain that takes care of most basic functions, like eating, drinking, eye movements, all at an unconscious level, and I don’t think anyone expected this part of the brain to be so specialized,” Dr. Brown said.
This could explain why I find Bill O’Reilly smarmily attractive even if I wouldn’t touch him with a ten thousand-foot pole. But Keith Olbermann, baby. Keith is my Other Boyfriend.
Did I just say that?