Minister:
___________ (name of groom), do you take this woman to be your wedded wife? Do
you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in
health, remaining faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
Is saying, “Yes, I do” to the above question enough
to make the union between a man and woman last forever? Or are there chemicals
and hormones at play?
Researchers
have shown that attraction and monogamy are heightened when men are given
oxytocin prior to seeing a picture of their partner. When oxytocin was
administered to a group of men and they were subsequently shown pictures of
their partners, longstanding female coworkers and acquaintances, it was demonstrated
that their reward system in the brain was activated only when the pictures of their
partners were viewed. When viewing images of their partners, the men identified them as
more attractive, reinforcing monogamy. This finding indicates that the bond
between partners was a result of the couples being in love and not merely
recognizable to each other.
Furthermore,
this activation of the reward system was analogous to how drug users activate
the reward system. The researchers suggest that this lack of oxytocin secretion
may provide a plausible explanation for people who suffer depression after
breaking up in a relationship, and compare symptoms with the withdrawal state a
drug user experiences.
Also, oxytocin is easily obtainable (shaking hands, hugging), induces feelings of optimism and
increases self-esteem, may promote nutritional stability, can reduce stress, improves
digestion, and increases generosity.
So if
oxytocin was not on list of things you were thankful for this past year, make
sure you add it to next year’s!
References:
Ellingsen DM, Wessberg J, Chelnokova O, Olausson H, Laeng B,
Leknes S. In touch with your emotions: Oxytocin and touch change social
impressions while others’ facial expressions can alter touch.
Pschoneuroendocrinology 39: 11-20, 2013.
Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E.
Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 435: 673-676, 2005.
Sarnyai Z, Kovacs Gl. Oxytocin in learning and addiction:
From early discoveries to the present. Pharmacol Biochem Behav S0091-3057:
00318-3, 2013.
Scheele D, Wille A, Kendrick KM, Stoffel-Wagner B, Becker B,
Gunturkun O, Maier W, Hurlemann R. Oxytocin enhances brain reward system
responses in men viewing the face of their female partner. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA:
Epub, 2013.
Zak
PJ, Stanton AA, Ahmadi S. Oxytocin increases generosity in humans. PLoS ONE
2(11): e1128, 2007.
Scott,
ReplyDeleteAs you've mentioned, administering oxytocin activates the reward system that is analogous to that of drug use. We all know the negative effects of drug use, especially the uncontrollable addiction, however, my question to you is, if oxytocin feeds into a similar reward system, would excess administration of oxytocin lead to some sort of addiction? For instance, you mentioned that those who are depressed have lower oxytocin secretion, would it be possible to administer oxytocin to these individuals as they did for the subjects in the study you wrote about? If so, I am sure there would be positive effects that follow, but would these depressed individuals become dependent on oxytocin treatment? Did you happen to run across any of this during your research? Overall, this is a really interesting blog.
One well-known time when oxytocin is released is right after intercourse, so I'm wondering how the paper defined "partner" and "being in love"--was it defined as a married couple? As two people who are married under common law? Would/did it include celibate couples who have been together for years? In other words, I'm just wondering if the article you read mentioned anything about that connection between sex, reward, and oxytocin, or are they arguing there's something outside of that, in the partners themselves, that releases oxytocin as well? Interesting either way, but possibly more interesting if there's something intrinsic to the partners that causes oxytocin release. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDoan,
ReplyDeleteGreat point! The article does mention that administering oxytocin to a lovesick individual who has broken up with a partner may be counterproductive in that it may activate a feed-forward loop only increasing the desire for the beloved partner, and in turn, increase the suffering.
I found an article that is currently researching the effects of oxytocin as an anti-depressant and it shows that oxytocin treatment caused an increase in anxiety in male psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder. The results do not look promising, however research is ongoing.
Reference:
MacDonald K, MacDonald TM, Brune M, Lamb Kristi, Wilson MP, Golshan S, Feifel D. Oxytocin and psychotherapy: A pilot study of its physiological, behavioral and subjective effects in males with depression. Psychoneuroendocrinology 38(12): 2831-2843, 2013.
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a valid stance. The article just says the male subjects were in a relationship for more than 6 months and reported to be "passionately in love." It would be interesting if there were other studies comparing married, celibate couples, or individuals who had experienced a divorce. I could not find anything that addressed these variables, sorry.