Can Love Last?
爱情能否持久？
官方翻译
Can love last?
爱情能持久吗？
In a 2012 paper in Social Psychological and Personality Science, more than 35% of people married 30 years or more reported being "very intensely in love."
2012年，《社会心理和人格科学》刊登的一篇文章显示，在结婚30年或以上的人中，超过35%的人回答“依然深爱”。
And the researchers wondered, what was up with that?
研究人员想知道，其中有什么缘由？
To find out, some of the same researchers did another study;
为了找出答案，该组的部分研究人员做了另一项研究。
they used fMRI to scan the brains of people in long marriages (an average of 21 years) who were recruited by ads that asked "Are you still madly in love with your long-term partner?"
他们用功能性核磁共振成像扫描了结婚多年（平均21年）的人的大脑。这些参与人员是由广告招募而来，广告内容是：“你依然深爱着结婚多年的伴侣吗？”
Then each participant had their brain scanned while they looked at photos of four different people:
每位受试者看四张不同人的照片时，大脑的活动会被扫描下来。
their partner, a long-term friend, an acquaintance they had known as long as the partner, and a new acquaintance.
这四个人分别是：伴侣、老朋友、认识时间与伴侣一样久的熟人、新认识的人。
What happened?
猜猜发生了什么？
When participants looked at the picture of their partner, they showed increased brain activity in the dopamine-rich areas that drive reward and motivation, the same areas that light up with food or drugs.
当受试者看伴侣的照片时，大脑中多巴胺含量丰富的区域更加活跃，而这些区域能驱动奖励和积极性，也是食物和药物作用于大脑的区域。
But guess what? Not only did this not happen with pictures of the friend or acquaintances, but the parts of the brain that showed increased activity were the same as in individuals who were newly in love.
受试者看其他人是什么情况呢？看朋友或熟人的照片时大脑不仅没出现上述情况，而且活跃区域与刚谈恋爱的人的区域一样。
In other words, neutrally at least, long-term romantic love can look pretty much the same as a new relationship.
换句话说，至少从神经学上来说，长久的浪漫爱情看起来和新恋情差不多。
Long-term romantic love is, we now know, certainly possible, but obviously not with every relationship.
现在我们知道，长久的浪漫爱情确实存在，但显然不是存在于每一段关系中。
Sometimes it's not the right match from the get-go, sometimes you just grow apart over the years.
有时候两个人从一开始就不适合在一起，有时候两个人相处多年后才分道扬镳。
And even when you do find the right match, there is work to do.
即使你找到了合适的人选，也还不够。
Indeed, you don't get the takeout version of a soulmate — a neatly packaged product delivered directly to your door — instead, a soulmate has to be home-cooked, made with time and care.
事实上，灵魂伴侣不是像外卖那样 —— 一份直接送到家门口、包装完好的食物 —— 相反，灵魂伴侣必须由你亲身付出，需要投入时间和心意。
