'Love hormone' guides young songbirds in choice of 'voice coach'

Oxytocin, the so-called "love hormone," plays a key role in the process of how a young zebra finch learns to sing by imitating its elders, suggests a new study by neuroscientists at Emory University. Scientific Reports has ...

'Love hormone' is revealed to have heart healing properties

The neurohormone oxytocin is well-known for promoting social bonds and generating pleasurable feelings, for example from art, exercise, or sex. But the hormone has many other functions, such as the regulation of lactation ...

Dogs cry more when reunited with their owners

Dogs and humans clearly have a special bond. But do dogs, like humans, produce more tears at times when they are flooded with emotion? A new study reported in Current Biology on August 22—which may be the first to look ...

Genetic clues to how dogs became man's best friends

Two mutations in the melanocortin 2 receptor gene—which is involved in the production of the stress hormone cortisol—may have played a role in the domestication of dogs by allowing them to develop social cognitive skills ...

Oxytocin treatment can take lions from ferocious to friendly

Lions typically aren't keen on making new friends. The giant cats guard their territory fiercely and can mortally wound a foe with a single swipe. While aggression is an advantage for apex predators in the wild, it poses ...

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Oxytocin

Oxytocin (pronounced /ˌɒksɨˈtoʊsɪn/) is a mammalian hormone that also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain.

It is best known for its roles in female reproduction: it is released in large amounts after distension of the cervix and vagina during labor, and after stimulation of the nipples, facilitating birth and breastfeeding, respectively. Recent studies have begun to investigate oxytocin's role in various behaviors, including orgasm, social recognition, pair bonding, anxiety, trust, love, and maternal behaviors.

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