photo by Caleb

Have you ever wished that you could turn off that aspect of your brain that gets unreasonably and irrationally attached to someone completely inappropriate after a night of sex and/or spooning? Well, it turns out that a solution — call it the anti-love drug — just might be on the horizon. It’s all thanks to Dr. Larry Young, a neuroscientist who is famous (at least, he’s famous in our world!) for his research into monogamy in prairie voles. These little cuties are among the less than 5 percent of mammals who share our fondness for monogamy. Dr. Young figured out that some prairie voles, due to a hormone deficiency, are less likely to bond and nest than others. He also found a way to block the similar hormone in lady voles — and this process made them less likely to fall in vole-love.

It’s not a giant leap to say that similar hormones (and hormone deficiencies) may have the same results in humans. So, the theory goes, if you wanted to fall in love all over again with your spouse of 30 years, you could get a hormone booster shoot — and if you wanted to booty call to your heart’s content without the fear of becoming a leg-clinger, you could take hormone blockers. (We suppose this would also mean that “It’s not you, it’s my hormones” could soon be considered a pathetic attempt at an excuse.)

All of which is excellent news for couples in a rut or women with a weakness for cowboys or bad boys. But it’s not such good news for two advice ladies who make a living by helping people figure out sex with and without love — and love with and without sex. But hey, until the FDA approves the love drug and the anti-love drug, we’ll be here for you.