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Oxytocin

What is it?

It is not only a hormone that circulates in the bloodstream, but also aneurotransmitter that travels along nerve cells in the brain and elsewhere. It plays a rolein inducing contraction and lactations, and is released with touches and hugs. Oxytocinhas been found to be beneficial for reducing anxiety and stress, producing feelings of well-

being, empathy, bonding, and sexual arousal. It is associated with bonding between amother and her child. It is however, released in both genders. [1, 2, 4]

IT IS ALSO CALLED THE LOVE OR TRUST HORMONE!

Love intense feeling of deep affection; Trust strong belief in someone or something!

Males[1, 2]

Males synthesize oxytocin in the same regions of the hypothalamus as in females, andalso within the testes and perhaps other reproductive tissues. Current evidence suggeststhat oxytocin is involved in facilitating sperm transport within the male reproductivesystem. It may also have effects on some aspects of male sexual behavior.

Females[1, 2]1. Stimulation of milk ejection (milk letdown) - Oxytocin stimulates contraction of

myoepithelial cells in breasts, causing milk to be ejected.2. Stimulation of uterine smooth muscle contraction at birth - Oxytocin is released

during labor, and it enhances contraction of uterine smooth muscle to facilitateparturition or birth.

3. Establishment of maternal behavior - During parturition (after labor), there is anincrease in concentration of oxytocin in cerebrospinal fluid, and oxytocin actingwithin the brain plays a major role in establishing maternal behavior.

The most important stimulus for release of oxytocin is initiated by physicalstimulation.

What factors affect or regulate the effects of oxytocin? [1]

Acute stress; repression by hormones released from the adrenal gland(catecholamines); sex steroids

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ANSWER TO REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Oxytocin is now available for public consumption, being marketed commercially. Do we haveto limit the distribution of such chemicals? Why or why not?

Why?

Just like with any other consumable substance, oxytocin may be abused and somay cause unhealthy side effects if taken in an overdose. Because it is linked to

reducing stress, an over-dosage of this substance may lead to slurred activity, orimpairment in certain learning and memory functions.

Why not?

We should not limit the distribution of such chemicals because the oxytocin has thefunction of stress reduction. It has also found that the oxytocin level highly increasesduring the sexual activity. Having better sexual activity with a partner can lead tobetter, more stable, passionate relationships. Some might think that consumption ofoxytocin might lead to the adultery, but having more sexual activity doesntnecessarily lead to this. It is the responsibility and the mindset of the person thatresult the adultery.

Comment on the marketing of the hormone as the Love or Trust Hormone.

We strongly agree with the idea that oxytocin is the Love or Trust Hormone. Inthe study done by Rebecca Turner, women that have stable relationships were morelikely to have an increase in oxytocin levels when remembering a positiveemotion/memory and were also less affected by recalled negative emotions.Lending ones body to someone is a difficult task, but if more oxytocin is produced,a person would be able to lend their body to someone else with more Trust, sinceit is considered as the trust hormone. Also, oxytocin levels increase when partnersare engaged in sexual activity, so the name Love hormone would be suitable as

well.

By: Jewel Ocampo, Daney Kang, Tom Lee, Sang Baek Han

Works Cited

1.

"About Oxytocin | Psych Central." Psych Central - Trusted Mental Health, Depression, Bipolar, ADHD and Psychology

Information. 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. .

"# Bowen, R. "Oxytocin."Arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu. 12 July 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2011..!

$# "Oxytocin Reduces Stress Hormones In Arguing Couples." Science 2.0 - The World's Best Scientists, the Internet'sSmartest Readers. 15 Dec. 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.

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%# Prior, Maria. "Oxytocin - Biological Level of Analysis." Ibpsychologynotes. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011..!

Turner, Rebecca. "Oxytocin: The Hormone of Love." Oxytocin.org : the Biology of True Love. University of CaliforniaSan Francisco, 14 July 1999. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. .!

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RELATED STUDY

Part 1

Aim: Researchers at University of California San Francisco, headed by Dr. Rebecca Turner, testedthe idea of whether oxytocin is released in response to intense emotional states in addition tophysical cues.

Method: Laboratory Experiment

Procedure: The subjects of this study were twenty-six non-lactating woman volunteers betweenthe ages 23 to 35. Firstly, they were asked to remember a past relationship event that caused themto feel a positive emotion, such as love or infatuation. Secondly, they were asked to remember apast relationship event that caused them to feel a negative emotion, such as loss or abandonment.Lastly, because massage was suggested to increase the level of oxytocin, as shown by a previousexperiment with rats, the twenty-six women were given 15 minutes of Swedish massage. Bloodsamples were taken before, during, and after all the procedures, in order to record any changes inoxytocin levels.

Result: The results indicate that recollection of a negative emotion caused oxytocin levels to fallslightly; recollection of a positive emotion, on average, had no effect; and the Swedish massagecaused oxytocin levels to rise slightly. However, what surprised the researchers was howdifferently each woman responded since some participants showed substantial increases anddecreases in oxytocin levels while others were largely unaffected. Thus, a further study ensued.

Part 2

Aim: The researchers decided to look at the interpersonal characteristics of individual women tosee if there was a correlation with changes in their oxytocin levels.

Method: Questionnaire

Procedure: Different questionnaires, including the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems and theAdult Attachment Scale, were used to assess the previous experiences with personal and closerelationships of each of the women in Part 1 of the study.

Results: Women whose oxytocin levels rose in response to massage and remembering a positive

relationship reported having little difficulty setting appropriate boundaries, being alone, andtrying too hard to please others. Women whose oxytocin levels fell in response to remembering anegative emotional relationship reported greater problems with experiencing anxiety in closerelationships. This suggests that having this hormone available during positive experiences, andnot being depleted of it during negative experiences, is associated with well-being in relationships.In addition, women who were currently involved in a committed relationship experienced greateroxytocin increases in response to positive emotions than single women; a close, regularrelationship may influence the responsiveness of oxytocin.

(Excerpts from Oxytocin: The Hormone of Love by Rebecca Turner, et al.)

Evaluation of the Study

Gender was used as a controlled variable in the study and so the data andexperiment is limited to women, as oxytocin levels were only being tested on the saidgender. In Part 1 of the study, a laboratory experiment was conducted and in Part 2, aquestionnaire was given out to the same set of women tested initially. The strengths of alab experiment include that manipulation of the independent variable indicates cause andeffect; there is increased control and accurate measurement of variables, and so objectivity;and laboratory standardization means greater ability to replicate the study. The

weaknesses include that total control over all variables is not possible; artificial laboratoryconditions may produce unnatural behavior that lacks ecological validity does notgeneralize to real life; results are more likely to be biased by sampling, demandcharacteristics, experimenter expectancy; and may raise ethical problems of deception. Thestrengths of a questionnaire include collecting large amounts of standardized datarelatively quickly and conveniently and that it is highly replicable and easy to score. Theweaknesses include lack of flexibility; and its basis on self-report data that could be biased

by motivation levels, socially desirable answers, acquiescence, and response set.

The initial part of the study, which dealt with lab experiments, has a high internalvalidity as the independent variables of recalling an emotion/memory, and undertaking amassage affects the dependent variable of oxytocin levels. The latter part of the study,which dealt with questionnaires, also has a high internal validity since the independentvariables of having a stable or unstable relationship and varying levels of security

determines the presence and levels of oxytocin. Both the lab experiment and thequestionnaire have a high external validity as it is assumed to apply to target non-lactatingwomen of several cultures from ages 23 to 35. The laboratory experiment has a lowecological validity because it is set under artificial conditions and is limited to women; thequestionnaire also has a low ecological validity because again, the study is focusedtowards the responses of women. Both approaches may also be generalizable to othercultures as the study is assumed to encompass women of different backgrounds.

This experiment was acceptable enough in modern ethical committees because itwasn't harmful to the participants except the fact that they were drawn blood from their

body. However, they were informed about it beforehand. Therefore, this cannot be areason for unethical issue. Also, there was no false information given to the participants.Unfortunately, this experiment was biased towards oxytocin levels in females. Overall, theexperiment was acceptable to modern ethical committees. All experiments and

questionnaires done in this study followed modern ethical standards and so there is noneed for justification because there was no infringement of these said standards.

In terms of studies done by other cultures, there was a study done by BeateDitzen from the Psychological Institute of the UZH, which also experimented with therelationship between couples and oxytocin. This study had different method than thestudy of Rebecca Turner, but had same result, wherein it was established that oxytocin is ahormone that gives positive behavior, or is released when people have a good mood.Overall, the two studies have similar conclusions which state that an abundance inoxytocin is helpful in establishing more stable and healthier relationships.