Oxytocin hormone
It increases pain thresholds, has anti anxiety effects, and stimulates various types of positive social interaction. In addition, it promotes growth and healing. It can induce anti-stress-like effects such as reduction of blood pressure and cortisol levels. It increases pain thresholds, exerts an anxiolytic-like effect and stimulates various types of positive social interaction. In addition, it promotes growth and healing. Oxytocin can be released by various types of non-noxious sensory stimulation, for example by touch and warmth. Ingestion of food triggers oxytocin release by activation of vagal afferents. Most likely, oxytocin can also be released by stimulation of other senses such as olfaction, as well as by certain types of sound and light. In addition, purely psychological mechanisms may trigger the release of oxytocin. This means that positive interaction involving touch and psychological support may be health-promoting. The social interaction of daily life, as well as a positive environment, continuously activate this system. In addition, various types of psychotherapy involving transfer of support, warmth and empathy are likely to induce similar effects, which thus contribute to the positive effects of these kinds of therapies.
Oxt) is a mammalian neurohypophysial hormone.
Produced by the hypothalamus and stored and secreted by the posterior pituitary gland, oxytocin acts primarily as a neuromodulator in the brain.
Oxytocin plays an important role in the neuroanatomy of intimacy, specifically in sexual reproduction of both sexes, in particular during and after childbirth; its name, meaning "swift childbirth", comes from Greek ὀξύς, oksys "swift" and τόκος, tokos "birth." It is released in large amounts after distension of the cervix and uterus during labor, facilitating birth, maternal bonding, and, after stimulation of the nipples, lactation. Both childbirth and milk ejection result from positive feedback mechanisms. oxytocin's role in various behaviors, including orgasm, social recognition, pair bonding, anxiety, and maternal behaviors. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the "bonding hormone". There is some evidence that oxytocin promotes ethnocentric behavior, incorporating the trust and empathy of in-groups with their suspicion and rejection of outsiders. Furthermore, genetic differences in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) have been associated with maladaptive social traits such as aggressive behaviour. - this hormone is essential for monogamous rodents to stay true to their mates, and that it makes humans more trusting toward one another, they are now finding that it is also crucial to how we form and maintain romantic relationships.
- oxytocin makes us more sympathetic,
supportive and open with our feelings
.
These findings have
led some researchers to investigate whether oxytocin can be used in
couple therapy.
Psychology professor Ruth Feldman - at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, spent years studying oxytocin’s role in the mother–child bond and recently decided to dive into the uncharted waters of romantic bonds by comparing oxytocin levels in new lovers and singles. - “The increase in oxytocin during the period of falling in love was the highest that we ever found,” she says of a study she and her colleagues published in Psychoneuroendocrinology. - New lovers had double the amount Feldman usually sees in pregnant women. -Oxytocin was also correlated with the longevity of a relationship. -Couples with the highest levels were the ones still together six months later. They were also more attuned to each other than the low-oxytocin couples when Feldman asked them to talk about a shared positive experience. The high-oxytocin couples finished each other’s sentences, laughed together and touched each other more often. Feldman says it’s still not clear whether oxytocin was responsible for the stability of the couple’s bond six months later or if couples who weren’t as connected failed to trigger the oxytocin system.
Biological Psychiatry
A study published last year was the
first to assess whether people with variations in their
oxytocin-receptor gene have a harder time maintaining romantic
relationships than those who don’t.
Hasse Walum and his colleagues took advantage of Swedish twin studies that included thousands of participants, their genetic information and their answers to questions about how affectionate they were with their romantic partners. They found that women with a specific variation weren’t as close to their partners as women without it: they kissed their partners less and didn’t desire physical proximity as often. These women were also more likely to report having had a marital crisis. Although researchers don’t know exactly how this variation affects the oxytocin system, it may result in a lower number of oxytocin receptors in the brain. People with fewer receptors would be less sensitive to the hormone’s effects. Feldman found that oxytocin receptor genes are also linked to empathy in couples. She looked at variants in the gene that have been linked with an increased risk for autism, a disorder that is marked by major social communication deficits. She found that the more of these “risk variants” a person had, the less empathy they showed toward their partner when that partner shared a distressing experience. “Oxytocin can elicit loving behaviors, but giving and receiving these behaviors also promotes the release of oxytocin and leads to more of these behaviors,” Wallum Oxytocin has been shown to help people with autism improve their ability to recognize emotion, and found that the same receptor variant that increases risk for marital crisis in women is linked to social problems in girls. These include trouble getting along with others and a preference for being alone. Feldman + Wallum work on oxytocin’s importance for the mother–child bond suggests that the hormone is more involved in the communication component of love between couples than the romantic component of love. Adam Guastella a clinical psychologist at University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute, and a pioneer in studies of - how oxytocin can help people with autism - thinks the hormone can also help people in couple therapy by facilitating empathic communication. Research by others has shown that oxytocin increases trust, generosity and our ability to identify emotion in facial expressions. It is perhaps by these mechanisms that the hormone improves communication. she says. She thinks that talk therapy alone can boost the oxytocin system, but admits that in some cases it might help to jump-start the feedback loop by administering oxytocin.
Oxytocin receptors in the body and brain
Oxytocin is a very abundant neuropeptide exerting a wide spectrum of central and peripheral effects as neurohormone, neurotransmitter, or neuromodulator. In the central nervous system, the oxytocin gene is predominantly expressed in magnocellular neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei. The magnocellular oxytocin neurons release their products into the general circulation in the neurohypophysis while the mediocellular oxytocin neurons secrete elsewhere in the CNS. Oxytocin is also produced in peripheral tissues, e.g., uterus, placenta, amnion, corpus luteum, testis, and heart. Oxytocin is a potent stimulator of spontaneous erections in rats and is involved in ejaculation. The typical actions of peripheral oxytocin are stimulation of uterine smooth muscle contraction during labor and milk ejection during lactation. Oxytocin receptors have also been identified in other tissues, including the kidney, heart, thymus, pancreas, and adipocytes. How to increase oxytocin levels naturally Ingestion of food triggers oxytocin release by activation of vagal afferent nerves. Most likely, it can also be released by stimulation of other senses such as olfaction, as well as by certain types of sound and light. In addition, purely psychological mechanisms can trigger the release. This means that positive interaction involving touch and psychological support are health-promoting. As time goes on some couples become less intimate. But activities that release oxytocin, such as really looking into another person's eyes, holding hands, kissing and having sex could help restore the connection. Oxytocin and sex Also known as the "cuddle" hormone, oxytocin is released by both men and woman Massage Oxytocin can be released by various types of sensory stimulation, for example by touch and warmth. Bloodstream levels of oxytocin have been shown to rise during massage. How it works Oxytocin suppresses the activity of the brain region known as the amygdala, the area that processes fear and communicates it to the rest of the brain. Oxytocin reduces fear Animal and human studies indicate the major role of the amygdala in controlling fear and anxiety. The amygdala is involved in detecting threat stimuli and linking them to defensive behaviors. This is accomplished by projections connecting the central nucleus of the amygdala to the brain stem and to hypothalamic structures, which organize fear responses. Oxytocin tempers the excitatory inputs into the amygdala. Orgasm effect Plasma oxytocin levels increase during sexual arousal in both women and men and are significantly higher during orgasm / ejaculation than during baseline testing. Smiles, social skills, interactions with others Oxytocin may increase one's ability to remember happy smiling faces but I have not seen studies yet that smiling itself increases one's oxytocin levels. This "love hormone" has a tremendous effect on kids' ability to function socially. Children blessed with naturally high levels of oxytocin are more savvy at communicating with others and interpreting social signals or situations, Bonding The levels of oxytocin hormone in a pregnant woman's body play a role in how closely she will bond with her newborn. In animals, oxytocin, dubbed "the hormone of love and bonding," is involved in good parenting and maintaining close relationships. Dr. Ruth Feldman and colleagues at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel, studied the role of this hormone in humans and found oxytocin is important in the bonding that occurs between mothers and their infants. Dr. Ruth Feldman and colleagues measured oxytocin levels in 60 pregnant women during the first and third trimester and the first month after delivery. They found that initial levels of oxytocin (first trimester) predicted bonding-related thoughts...as well as maternal bonding to the newborn. Mothers with higher levels of oxytocin at the start of pregnancy showed more bonding behaviors after birth. Psychological Science, November 2007. | ||||||||||||
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