2014年1月6日 星期一

魚類擁有恋愛神経細胞

Recently the NHK News on-line reported the following:

恋のスイッチの神経細胞 メダカで発見

13 559


メスのメダカがオスに恋心を抱くスイッチとなる神経細胞を、東京大学などの研究グループが見つけました。グループは、同じような細胞を人でも探すことで、人が恋に落ちる仕組みの解明につながるのではないかと期待しています。
東京大学などの研究グループは、メダカのメスとオスを仕切りのあるケースに入れて、数時間、「お見合い」させる実験を行いました。
その結果、メスがオスを記憶し、見知らぬオスの場合と比べて、6分の1の10秒程度で、オスの求愛を受け入れるようになることが分かりました。
また、オスを記憶する過程では、脳の中にある特定の神経細胞が「恋心のスイッチ」の役割を果たしていることが分かり、この細胞を人工的にコントロールすることで、メスにオスの求愛を受け入れやすくすることにも成功したということです。
東京大学大学院の竹内秀明助教は「いつか、メダカと同じような神経機構が人でも見つかれば、人が恋に落ちる仕組みが分かるかもしれない」と話しています。この研究成果は3日発行のアメリカの科学雑誌「サイエンス」に掲載されます。
(試譯文)
A research group formed by the University of Tokyo etc. found the nerve cell that was used as a switch for the female killifish to hold its love towards a male. It was hoped that by also looking for the same cell in human, this group might lead to the elucidation of the mechanism for people to fall in love.

The research group, including the University of Tokyo, put the female and male killifish into a case with a partition to conduct for several hours an experiment so as to carry out a "formal meeting for engagement".

As a result it was found out that when a female killifish came to accept a male’s courting, comparing the case that it could memorize the male with the case of an unknown male, it was about 1/6 of 10 seconds.

Moreover, it turned out that in the process in which a male was memorized, it was said that the specific nerve cell in a brain had played the role of "a switch of love"; also it was successful to make the male courting easier to be accepted in the killifish by controlling this cell artificially.

Assistant Professor Hideaki Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo graduate school was saying that "if the same nerve mechanism in a killifish could also be found in human, then the mechanism for people to fall in love may be known". This research result was published in the American science magazine the "Science" released on the 3rd.


I think it would be a huge scientific discovery if the same nerve mechanism in killifish could also be found in the human.

沒有留言:

張貼留言