Word: mood
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...this sounds complicated, it is. Researchers are still struggling to understand how these pieces fit together and how they might be different for men and women. It's not clear which chemicals of desire are unleashed and under which circumstances, because setting and mood, as women know better than men, can make all the difference between arousal and annoyance...
...primary chemical in charge of that function is nitric oxide. It's a vascular traffic cop, activating the muscles that control the expansion and contraction of blood vessels. If the mind is in the mood--or when you pop a nitric-oxide-boosting drug such as Viagra or Levitra--the body responds. Men tend to be more focused on genital stimulation than women, so they are more likely to perceive an increased blood flow to the genitals as arousal, while women may be unaware of it. That may be one reason why trials of Viagra on women have been disappointing...
Another neurotransmitter almost certainly involved in the biochemistry of desire is serotonin, which, like dopamine, plays a role in feelings of satisfaction. Antidepressants like Prozac, which enhance mood by keeping serotonin in circulation longer than usual, can paradoxically depress the ability to achieve orgasm. But "dopamine and serotonin," says Heiman, "appear to interact with each other in a complicated way to impact desire...
...doubtless,” “obvious,” “unquestionable,” on the other, will have the same effect. A hint of nostalgic, anti-academic languor at this stage as well may match the grader’s own mood: “It seems more than obvious to one entangled in the petty quibbles of contemporary Medievalists—at times, indeed, approaching the ludicrous—that smile as we may at its follies, or denounce its barbarities, the truly monumental achievements of the Middle Ages have become too vast...
...investigate the effectiveness of certain medications in bipolar patients," says Michael Rohan of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., "and noticed that many came out of the MRI feeling much better than when they went in." A controlled study found that 23 of 30 bipolar subjects who had scans showed mood improvement. If larger studies confirm the effect, a tabletop version of the scanner could someday be used in doctors' offices...