WEBVTT - Is Oxytocin Really A Love Drug?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here in our wide world of problems, you

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<v Speaker 1>can bet that someone out there is willing to sell

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<v Speaker 1>you a solution. For example, if you want to go

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<v Speaker 1>on more dates, there are supplement brands that will sell

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<v Speaker 1>you nasal sprays containing oxytocin and naturally occurring hormone produced

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<v Speaker 1>in the human brain. Since these sprays aren't approved by

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<v Speaker 1>the US Food and Drug Administration, they can't be sold

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<v Speaker 1>as a cure or treatment for anything, in particular in

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<v Speaker 1>our bodies. The hormone is chiefly responsible for triggering contractions

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<v Speaker 1>in pregnant women and letting down milk during lactation, and

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<v Speaker 1>is sometimes prescribed for those purposes. But if you've followed

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<v Speaker 1>pop health headlines over the last decade, you know that

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<v Speaker 1>oxytocin has also been shown to enhance feelings of social

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<v Speaker 1>bonding and improve sociability in people with autism. Oxytocin levels

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<v Speaker 1>have also been shown to spike during orgasm and positive

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<v Speaker 1>touch experiences, and people dosed with extra oxytocin have been

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<v Speaker 1>shown to have warmer, fuzzier feelings towards their spouses and partners.

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<v Speaker 1>New lovers have been found to have higher natural oxytocin

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<v Speaker 1>levels than their single peers, all of which has earned

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<v Speaker 1>oxytocin the catchy nickname the love hormone. But while decades

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<v Speaker 1>of research have proven that oxytocin clearly has a role

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<v Speaker 1>in bonding us to our social and sexual partners, it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a magic bullet or magic nasal sprits to achieve

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<v Speaker 1>romantic bliss. Experts warn that there is still plenty to

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<v Speaker 1>learn about this popular neuropeptide, and the oxytocin is likely

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<v Speaker 1>not the only ingredient in the complex biochemical soup that

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<v Speaker 1>we call love. For the article this episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on How Stuff Works, spoke with doctor Bradley Anawalt, who's

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<v Speaker 1>the chief of Medicine at the University of Washington Medical

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<v Speaker 1>Center and board certified and endocrinology, so he's a hormone specialist.

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<v Speaker 1>He's had a front row seat as scientists have uncovered

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<v Speaker 1>oxytocin's curious effects on brain chemistry and human behavior. He

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<v Speaker 1>spoke about studies showing that doses of intranasal oxytocin light

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<v Speaker 1>up the same reward centers in the brain as do

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<v Speaker 1>sexual arousal chocolate cake and drugs like cocaine, and that

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<v Speaker 1>people treated with oxytocin are more attracted to images of

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<v Speaker 1>faces that resemble their spouse, and that men in relationships

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<v Speaker 1>will stand farther back from an attractive stranger while under

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<v Speaker 1>the influence of extra oxytocin. But Anawalt says it's important

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<v Speaker 1>to distinguish that in most of these studies, the administration

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<v Speaker 1>of oxytocin nasal spray doesn't make the recipient fall in

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<v Speaker 1>love with anyone. It's more accurate to say that the

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<v Speaker 1>extra dose of the hormone enhances our emotional reaction to

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<v Speaker 1>people with whom we are already romantically or socially bonded.

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<v Speaker 1>A Walt pointed specifically to the study in which men

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<v Speaker 1>in committed relationships who were treated with oxytocin preferred to

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<v Speaker 1>stand farther away from an attractive research assistant compared to

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<v Speaker 1>those treated with placebo. The study authors concluded that oxytocin

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<v Speaker 1>might play a role in promoting monogamy in men. For animal,

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<v Speaker 1>the question is whether the oxytocin influences monogamy by enhancing

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<v Speaker 1>sexual attraction or by reinforcing social expectations. Annawalt said If

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<v Speaker 1>I'm bonded to a female partner, that means I love

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<v Speaker 1>the person or I'm strongly attracted to her and my

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<v Speaker 1>feelings for that person are accentuated by the oxytocin, and

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<v Speaker 1>therefore I respond differently to her than to other women.

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<v Speaker 1>That's one plausible explanation. Another explanation is that oxytocin is

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<v Speaker 1>simply reinforcing a social relationship I have with somebody. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to be with my female partner, and I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to be with this other woman. Oxytocin is a

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<v Speaker 1>neurotransmitter and hornyrmone that's produced by the hypothalamus in the brain.

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<v Speaker 1>It's released during sex, breastfeeding, and childbirth, all activities that

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<v Speaker 1>have to do with bonding. It could be nature's way

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<v Speaker 1>of promoting familial support by reinforcing positive feelings with people

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<v Speaker 1>were already physically close to. Researchers have tested natural oxytosin

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<v Speaker 1>levels and the blood of both men and women before, during,

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<v Speaker 1>and after sexual activities, and oxtosin levels go up as

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<v Speaker 1>arousal increases during female orgasm. Oxytocin likely plays a similar

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<v Speaker 1>role to what it does in childbirth. A flood of

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<v Speaker 1>the hormone into the bloodstream triggers smooth muscle contractions in

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<v Speaker 1>the uterus and pelvic muscles. A body massage has also

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<v Speaker 1>been shown to increase natural oxotosin levels in the bloodstream,

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<v Speaker 1>another sign that physical pleasure is mediated by oxytocin in

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<v Speaker 1>some way. But Anawalt was quick to point out that

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<v Speaker 1>it's not all about sex. He said, the flip side

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<v Speaker 1>of this is that reading a good book also increases oxtose.

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<v Speaker 1>It may be that a relaxed state, or a general

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<v Speaker 1>state of pleasure, is associated with high oxytocin levels. There

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<v Speaker 1>are a number of interesting findings indicating that oxytocin alone

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<v Speaker 1>isn't enough to produce happily bonded relationships. The effect that

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<v Speaker 1>oxytocin has depends on the overall quality of our existing relationships.

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<v Speaker 1>A twenty ten study, for example, administered oxytocin or placebo

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<v Speaker 1>to a group of men and asked each of them

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<v Speaker 1>to describe their mother's parenting style. You might expect that

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<v Speaker 1>men who received oxytocin would have warmer recollections about their moms,

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<v Speaker 1>but that was only true with men who also described

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<v Speaker 1>their current relationships as healthy and happy. Men who were

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<v Speaker 1>more anxiously attached in their current relationships described their mothers

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<v Speaker 1>as less caring on oxytocin than just placebo. Another study

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<v Speaker 1>showed that doses of oxytocin increase in group favoritism and

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<v Speaker 1>the exclusion of others. The researchers concluded that the close

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<v Speaker 1>social bonds enhanced by oxytocin come at a cost to outsiders,

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<v Speaker 1>who are viewed as even less trustworthy. Follow Up studies

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<v Speaker 1>found similar associations between oxytocin and negative emotions like envy, distrust, favoritism,

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<v Speaker 1>and schadenfreud. This reinforces the idea that oxytocin appears to

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<v Speaker 1>function as an emotional enhancer and not, as one of

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<v Speaker 1>the study authors put it, an all purpose attachment panacea.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article does Oxytocin Make

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<v Speaker 1>Us Fall in Love? On HowStuffWorks dot Com written by

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<v Speaker 1>Dave rus. Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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