Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced by the Hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland. In humans it plays roles in behavior that include social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and period after childbirth. Not only does it induce labor but also affects a mother’s moods and promotes her physical and emotional nurturing of infants. In mammals of both sexes oxytocin also contributes to orgasmic pleasure and, more generally, may be considered one of the “love hormones.” Just like opioid peptides, oxytocin can reduce separation anxiety when infused into distressed young animals. It is critical to our experience of loving attachments and even to maintaining committed relationships.
The brain’s fault lines dividing In-group and out-group are shown by oxytocin. The hormone prompts trust, generosity, and cooperation toward in-groups but crappier behavior toward out-groups—more preemptive aggression in economic play, more advocacy of sacrificing Them (but not Us) for the greater good. oxytocin exaggerates Them-ing. This is hugely interesting. If you like broccoli but spurn cauliflower, no hormone amplifies both preferences. Ditto for liking chess and disdaining backgammon. Oxytocin’s opposing effects on Us and Them demonstrate the salience of such dichotomizing.
References
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Mate, Gabor. (2010). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Chapter 14. Through a Needle, a Warm, Soft Hug (p. 196). Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
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Mate, Gabor. (2010). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Chapter 18. Trauma, Stress, and the Biology of Addiction (p. 243). Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
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Sapolsky, Robert. (2017). Behave Chapter 11. Us Versus Them (p. 441). New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Biochemistry / Neurochemistry Status:☀️