The Science of Sex Appeal

Bibliophiles aside, few people see libraries as sexy places, with their musty smells and enforced quiet. But this Valentine’s Day the NSW State Library is challenging that perception, with a talk on the Science of Sex Appeal.

They’ve sifted through their archives to gather a reading list of love letters from the past, revealing the private passions of amorous correspondents. It won’t all be voyeuristic listening to swoony prose, though – following the love dedications is a talk on the neurobiology of love and attraction by Dr Ian Johnston, a Senior Psychology Lecturer at Sydney University.

If you’ve ever wanted to understand the neurology behind feelings of intense lust or crippling heartbreak, then Dr Johnston is your man – his research into pain and cognitive impairments in animals shines a light of cold hard scientific fact onto the biological causes of love and lust.

“When we talk about the neurobiology of love, we need to ask ‘what type of love?’” Dr Johnston says. “There are multiple systems in the brain that all work together to create the different aspects of our romantic behaviour and emotions. There are parts that are important for the actual sexual acts, for arousal, and those that are active when we feel emotional pleasure from being with or thinking of someone we love. Then there are other areas for the experience of pain that become active when we lose someone we love, when they hurt us emotionally, or when they ostracise us.”

Handily, you can also blame biology for promiscuity, thanks to a fascinating phenomenon known as the Coolidge effect (so named for a joke about former US president Calvin Coolidge), which demonstrates that the males and females of most animal species are as fond of spreadin' the love as many humans are.

“A biologist studying sexual fatigue in rats found that a male rat introduced to a cage full of sexually receptive female rats would be extremely sexually active for a while, but then his interest in the females would decline. However, if new females were introduced to the cage, his activity would recover.

“This finding has been observed in many animals: sheep, horses, chickens, rats, and sitcom characters. But is it destined to happen in people? Perhaps, if we’re not careful, but it can definitely be avoided - the neurobiological systems that generate lust and sexual arousal can also be stimulated by those associated with romantic love.”