Helen Fisher (anthropologist) - Wikipedia Helen Fisher (anthropologist) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Canadian anthropologist Helen Fisher Fisher in 2014 Born (1945-05-31) May 31, 1945 (age 75) U.S. Citizenship United States Alma mater University of Colorado Known for Why We Love, anthropology of sex, romance, attachment and personality Scientific career Fields Anthropology Institutions The Kinsey Institute Helen Fisher[1] (born May 31, 1945) is an American anthropologist, human behavior researcher, and self-help author. She is a biological anthropologist, is a senior research fellow, at The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, and a member of the Center For Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University.[2][3][4] Prior to Rutgers University, she was a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. She is a leading expert on the biology of love and attraction.[5][failed verification] Fisher said that when she began researching for her dissertation, she considered the one thing all humans have in common – their reproductive strategies.[6] She is now the most referenced scholar in the love research community.[citation needed] In 2005, she was hired by match.com to help build chemistry.com, which used her research and experience to create both hormone-based and personality-based matching systems. She was one of the main speakers at the 2006 and 2008 TED conference.[7] On January 30, 2009, she was featured in an ABC News 20/20[8] special, Why Him? Why Her? The Science of Seduction, where she discussed her most recent research on brain chemistry and romantic love. She appears in the 2014 documentary film about heart-break and loneliness, entitled Sleepless in New York[9] and the 2017 PBS Nova special on computerized dating, 'How to Find Love Online'. Fisher advises that in order to sustain long-term deep attachment and romantic love, a couple should leverage neurochemistry by regularly having sex and physical contact (which drives up the oxytocin system), engaging in novel activities (which drives up the dopamine system), and saying nice things to the partner (which reduces cortisol and cholesterol).[10] Contents 1 Early life 2 Research 2.1 2004 2.2 2006 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links Early life[edit] Fisher earned a B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology from New York University in 1968; an M.A. in Physical Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Linguistics, and Archeology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1972, and a Ph.D. in Physical Anthropology: Human Evolution, Primatology, Human Sexual Behavior, and Reproductive Strategies from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1975. Research[edit] 2004[edit] In her book, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, Fisher proposed that humanity has evolved three core brain systems for mating and reproduction: lust – the sex drive or libido, also described as borogodó. attraction – early stage intense romantic love. attachment – deep feelings of union with a long term partner. Love can start with any of these three feelings, Fisher maintains. Some people have sex with someone new and then fall in love. Some fall in love first, then have sex. Some feel a deep feeling of attachment to another, which then turns into romance and the sex drive. But the sex drive evolved to initiate mating with a range of partners; romantic love evolved to focus one's mating energy on one partner at a time; and attachment evolved to enable us to form a pair bond and rear young together as a team. Fisher discusses many of the feelings of intense romantic love, saying it begins as the beloved takes on "special meaning." Then you focus intensely on him or her. People can list the things they dislike about a sweetheart, but they sweep these things aside and focus on what they adore. Intense energy, elation, mood swings, emotional dependence, separation anxiety, possessiveness, physical reactions including a pounding heart and shortness of breath, and craving, Fisher reports, are all central to this feeling. But most important is obsessive thinking. As Fisher says, "Someone is camping in your head." Fisher and her colleagues studied the brain circuitry of romantic love by fMRI-scanning the brains of forty-nine men and women: seventeen who had just fallen madly in love, fifteen who had just been dumped, and seventeen who reported that they were still in love after an average of twenty-one years of marriage. One of her central ideas is that romantic love is a drive that is stronger than the sex drive. As she has said, "After all, if you casually ask someone to go to bed with you and they refuse, you don't slip into a depression, commit suicide or homicide -- but around the world people suffer terribly from romantic rejection." Fisher also maintains that taking certain antidepressants can potentially dampen feelings of romantic love and attachment (as well as sex drive). From the brain scans of people who had just fallen madly in love, Fisher's 2004 book discusses differences between male and female brains.[11] On average, men tended to show more activity in a brain region associated with the integration of visual stimuli, while women showed more activity in several brain regions linked with memory recall. Fisher hypothesizes that these differences stem from differing evolutionary forces governing mate choice. In prehistory (and today), a male was obliged to size up a potential female partner visually to ensure that she is healthy and age-appropriate to bear and rear their potential progeny. But a female could not know from a male's appearance whether he would be a good husband and father; she had to remember his past behaviors, achievements and misadventures—memories which could help her select an effective husband and father for her forthcoming young. 2006[edit] In 2006, her MRI research, which showed that the ventral tegmental area and the caudate nucleus become active when people are in love, was featured in the (February) National Geographic cover-page article, "Love – the Chemical Reaction".[12] See also[edit] Keirsey Temperament Sorter Interpersonal attraction Matchmaking Myers–Briggs Type Indicator Michael Liebowitz, The Chemistry of Love Pepper Schwartz Neil Clark Warren References[edit] ^ "Fisher, Helen: --Anthropologist". Connection.ebscohost.com. Retrieved July 31, 2016.[dead link] ^ "Health Report - 6/09/99: Biology of Love". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011-08-24. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved 2015-09-08. ^ "Stony Brook Mind/Brain Lecture Series : 10th Annual Lecture: The Drive to Love – The Biology and Evolution of Romantic Love : Guest Lecturer: Helen Fisher, Ph.D". Theswartzfoundation.org. Retrieved December 2, 2014. ^ "BBC Science – Human Body & Mind – Science of Love". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved December 2, 2014. ^ "Safe in Your Mouth". Flatrock.org.nz. Retrieved December 2, 2014. ^ "Helen Fisher – Love and Sex and Attachment". On Being with Krista Tippett. Retrieved June 19, 2015. ^ "Browse Talks – TED.com". Ted.com. Retrieved May 19, 2020. ^ ABC News. "The Science of Seduction: Why Him, Why Her?". ABC News. Retrieved December 2, 2014. ^ Sumi, Glenn. "Sleepless in New York". Now (Review). Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014. ^ Fisher, Helen (11 February 2016). "The science behind maintaining a happy long-term relationship". Big Think. ^ Fisher, Helen (2004). Why We Love – the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6913-5. ^ "Love, The Thing Called Love – National Geographic Magazine". Ngm.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved December 2, 2014. Further reading[edit] The Sex Contract – the Evolution of Human Behavior. Quill. 1983. ISBN 0-688-01599-9. Anatomy of Love – a Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray. Quill. 1993. ISBN 0-449-90897-6. The First Sex – the Natural Talents of Women and How They are Changing the World. Random House. 1999. ISBN 0-679-44909-4. Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. Henry Holt. 2004. ISBN 0-8050-7796-0. Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love By Understanding Your Personality Type. Henry Holt USA-Canada. 2009. ISBN 978-0-8050-8292-0. Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love By Understanding Your Personality Type. Oneworld Publications UK-Commonwealth. 2009. ISBN 978-1-85168-698-8. External links[edit] Official website Helen Fisher at TED Authority control BIBSYS: 90060811 BNE: XX901744 BNF: cb11902839k (data) GND: 113256086 ISNI: 0000 0001 1557 5833 LCCN: n81066981 NDL: 00439610 NLK: KAC199608828 NTA: 074108654 SUDOC: 026865874 VIAF: 113101972 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n81066981 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helen_Fisher_(anthropologist)&oldid=990490859" Categories: 1945 births Living people Cultural anthropologists Women anthropologists American anthropologists Relationships and sexuality writers Interpersonal attraction Rutgers University faculty People associated with the American Museum of Natural History Physical anthropologists New York University alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from November 2020 Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles with hCards All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from January 2018 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2018 Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Asturianu تۆرکجه Català Deutsch Español فارسی Français Galego مصرى Polski Português Русский Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 24 November 2020, at 19:45 (UTC). 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