Mariette DiChristina

Acting Editor in Chief

editors@SciAmMind.com

(from the editor)

ACTING EDITOR IN CHIEF: Mariette DiChristina

EDITORS: Karen Schrock, Ingrid Wickelgren

ART DIRECTOR: Patricia NemotoISSUE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR:

Bridget Gerety Small

COPY DIRECTOR: Maria-Christina Keller

EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR: Avonelle WingSENIOR SECRETARY: Maya Harty

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Gareth Cook, David Dobbs, Robert Epstein, Jonah Lehrer

CONTRIBUTING RESEARCHERS: Smitha Alampur, Kenneth Silber, Kevin Singer

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BOARD OF ADVISERS:

HAL ARKOWITZ: Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Arizona

STEPHEN J. CECI: Professor of Developmental Psychology, Cornell University

R. DOUGLAS FIELDS: Chief, Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

S. ALEXANDER HASLAM: Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Exeter

CHRISTOF KOCH: Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology, California Institute of Technology

SCOTT O. LILIENFELD: Professor of Psychology, Emory University

STEPHEN L. MACKNIK, Director, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuropsychology, Barrow Neurological Institute

SUSANNA MARTINEZ-CONDE, Director, Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute

JOHN H. MORRISON: Chairman, Department of Neuroscience, and Director, Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

VILAYANUR S. RAMACHANDRAN: Director, Center for the Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

DIANE ROGERS-RAMACHANDRAN: Research Associate, Center for the Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego

STEPHEN D. REICHER: Professor of Psychology, University of St. Andrews

Some of the articles in this issue are adapted from articles originally appearing in Gehirn & Geist.

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MINDBEHAVIOR • BRAIN SCIENCE • INSIGHTS

www.Scientif icAmerican.com/Mind SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND 1

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Look of LoveIs there anything more powerful in human society than a steady gaze? I once, for in-stance, completely fl ustered and enraged a careless driver who nearly ran over my then toddler and stroller-riding infant daughters and me as she rolled into a gas sta-tion simply by calmly staring at her. I didn’t say a word or make a gesture. “What are you looking at?!” she yelled. It’s no wonder, actually: humans are so visually ori-ented and so social as a species, it would be surprising if we did not respond to the looks of others.

Peering into each other’s eyes, then, naturally has a strong infl uence on that most social of activities: creating a personal, shared bond as we fall in love with another. As psychologist and contributing editor Robert Epstein writes in the cover story, “How Science Can Help You Fall in Love,” the relationship-cementing effect of mu-tual gazing is well documented by researchers. Epstein relates some fascinating ex-amples of his experiences with study subjects and others in his thought-provoking article. Who says science isn’t sexy? Turn to page 26 for more.

Once you fi nd your bliss, how do you maintain that passion over the decades? That is the subject of the feature “The Happy Couple,” by wellness consultant and writer Suzann Pileggi. As a person who recently celebrated 20 years of marriage my-self, I was curious to fi nd out how I’ve apparently stumbled on the ingredients nec-essary for this achievement. As Pileggi shows, it is not enough to be there for your partner when he or she suffers bad news or a health crisis. It’s even more critical to be warm and supportive when your loved one gets good news. If it happens frequent-ly enough, a seemingly neutral “That’s nice, honey” to your main squeeze’s good news can squelch romantic fi res, crippling rapport over the long term. In my case, my husband also has taught me, without saying anything specifi cally, how to think as part of a couple, rather than an individual, by always acting in ways that work best for both of us. Flip to page 34 to fi nd more secrets of success for couples.