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Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior Apr 2014The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin has drawn the attention of scientists for more than a century. The understanding of the function of oxytocin has expanded... (Review)
Review
The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin has drawn the attention of scientists for more than a century. The understanding of the function of oxytocin has expanded dramatically over the years from a simple peptide adept at inducing uterine contractions and milk ejection to a complex neuromodulator with a capacity to shape human social behavior. Decades of research have outlined oxytocin's ability to enhance intricate social activities ranging from pair bonding, sexual activity, affiliative preferences, and parental behaviors. The precise neural mechanisms underlying oxytocin's influence on such behaviors have just begun to be understood. Research suggests that oxytocin interacts closely with the neural pathways responsible for processing motivationally relevant stimuli. In particular, oxytocin appears to impact dopaminergic activity within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, which is crucial not only for reward and motivated behavior but also for the expression of affiliative behaviors. Though most of the work performed in this area has been done using animal models, several neuroimaging studies suggest similar relationships may be observed in humans. In order to introduce this topic further, this paper will review the recent evidence that oxytocin may exert some of its social-behavioral effects through its impact on motivational networks.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Dopamine; Motivation; Oxytocin; Social Behavior
PubMed: 23850525
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2013.06.011 -
Pharmacological Reviews Oct 2020Oxytocin is a pleiotropic, peptide hormone with broad implications for general health, adaptation, development, reproduction, and social behavior. Endogenous oxytocin... (Review)
Review
Oxytocin is a pleiotropic, peptide hormone with broad implications for general health, adaptation, development, reproduction, and social behavior. Endogenous oxytocin and stimulation of the oxytocin receptor support patterns of growth, resilience, and healing. Oxytocin can function as a stress-coping molecule, an anti-inflammatory, and an antioxidant, with protective effects especially in the face of adversity or trauma. Oxytocin influences the autonomic nervous system and the immune system. These properties of oxytocin may help explain the benefits of positive social experiences and have drawn attention to this molecule as a possible therapeutic in a host of disorders. However, as detailed here, the unique chemical properties of oxytocin, including active disulfide bonds, and its capacity to shift chemical forms and bind to other molecules make this molecule difficult to work with and to measure. The effects of oxytocin also are context-dependent, sexually dimorphic, and altered by experience. In part, this is because many of the actions of oxytocin rely on its capacity to interact with the more ancient peptide molecule, vasopressin, and the vasopressin receptors. In addition, oxytocin receptor(s) are epigenetically tuned by experience, especially in early life. Stimulation of G-protein-coupled receptors triggers subcellular cascades allowing these neuropeptides to have multiple functions. The adaptive properties of oxytocin make this ancient molecule of special importance to human evolution as well as modern medicine and health; these same characteristics also present challenges to the use of oxytocin-like molecules as drugs that are only now being recognized. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Oxytocin is an ancient molecule with a major role in mammalian behavior and health. Although oxytocin has the capacity to act as a "natural medicine" protecting against stress and illness, the unique characteristics of the oxytocin molecule and its receptors and its relationship to a related hormone, vasopressin, have created challenges for its use as a therapeutic drug.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Oxytocin
PubMed: 32912963
DOI: 10.1124/pr.120.019398 -
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience Jun 2017Social anxiety is a form of anxiety characterized by continuous fear of one or more social or performance situations. Although multiple treatment modalities (cognitive... (Review)
Review
Social anxiety is a form of anxiety characterized by continuous fear of one or more social or performance situations. Although multiple treatment modalities (cognitive behavioral therapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors/selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, benzodiazepines) exist for social anxiety, they are effective for only 60% to 70% of patients. Thus, researchers have looked for other candidates for social anxiety treatment. Our review focuses on the peptide oxytocin as a potential therapeutic option for individuals with social anxiety. Animal research both in nonprimates and primates supports oxytocin's role in facilitation of prosocial behaviors and its anxiolytic effects. Human studies indicate significant associations between social anxiety and oxytocin receptor gene alleles, as well as social anxiety and oxytocin plasma levels. In addition, intranasal administration of oxytocin in humans has favorable effects on social anxiety symptomology. Other disorders, including autism, schizophrenia, and anorexia, have components of social anxiety in their pathophysiology. The therapeutic role of oxytocin for social dysfunction in these disorders is discussed.
Topics: Administration, Intranasal; Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Fear; Humans; Oxytocin; Phobia, Social
PubMed: 28867943
DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/cjones -
The Neuroscientist : a Review Journal... Dec 2021Humans are an unusually prosocial species, who engage in social behaviors that include altruism-whereby an individual engages in costly or risky acts to improve the... (Review)
Review
Humans are an unusually prosocial species, who engage in social behaviors that include altruism-whereby an individual engages in costly or risky acts to improve the welfare of another person-care, and cooperation. Current perspectives on the neurobiology of human prosociality suggest that it is deeply rooted in the neuroendocrine architecture of the social brain and emphasize the modulatory role of the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin. In this review, we provide a conceptual overview of the neurobiology of prosocial behavior with a focus on oxytocin's modulatory role in human prosociality. Specifically, we aim to encourage a better understanding of the peptide's susceptibility to diverse factors that produce heterogeneity in outcomes and the resulting methodological implications for measuring the behavioral effects of oxytocin in humans. After providing an overview of the state-of-the-art research on oxytocin's exogenous use, we elaborate on the peptide's modulatory role in the context of care-based altruism, cooperation, and conflict and discuss its potential for therapeutic interventions in psychiatric disorders characterized by social dysfunction.
Topics: Altruism; Humans; Mental Disorders; Oxytocin; Social Behavior
PubMed: 32981445
DOI: 10.1177/1073858420960111 -
American Journal of Obstetrics and... Mar 2024Oxytocin is a peptide hormone that plays a key role in regulating the female reproductive system, including during labor and lactation. It is produced primarily in the... (Review)
Review
Oxytocin is a peptide hormone that plays a key role in regulating the female reproductive system, including during labor and lactation. It is produced primarily in the hypothalamus and secreted by the posterior pituitary gland. Oxytocin can also be administered as a medication to initiate or augment uterine contractions. To study the effectiveness and safety of oxytocin, previous studies have randomized patients to low- and high-dose oxytocin infusion protocols either alone or as part of an active management of labor strategy along with other interventions. These randomized trials demonstrated that active management of labor and high-dose oxytocin regimens can shorten the length of labor and reduce the incidence of clinical chorioamnionitis. The safety of high-dose oxytocin regimens is also supported by no associated differences in fetal heart rate abnormalities, postpartum hemorrhage, low Apgar scores, neonatal intensive care unit admissions, and umbilical artery acidemia. Most studies reported no differences in the cesarean delivery rates with active management of labor or high-dose oxytocin regimens, thereby further validating its safety. Oxytocin does not have a predictable dose response, thus the pharmacologic effects and the amplitude and frequency of uterine contractions are used as physiological parameters for oxytocin infusion titration to achieve adequate contractions at appropriate intervals. Used in error, oxytocin can cause patient harm, highlighting the importance of precise administration using infusion pumps, institutional safety checklists, and trained nursing staff to closely monitor uterine activity and fetal heart rate changes. In this review, we summarize the physiology, pharmacology, infusion regimens, and associated risks of oxytocin.
Topics: Pregnancy; Infant, Newborn; Humans; Female; Oxytocin; Oxytocics; Labor, Induced; Labor, Obstetric; Cesarean Section
PubMed: 37460365
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2023.06.041 -
Current Topics in Behavioral... 2018Social signals are identified through processing in sensory systems to trigger appropriate behavioral responses. Social signals are received primarily in most mammals... (Review)
Review
Social signals are identified through processing in sensory systems to trigger appropriate behavioral responses. Social signals are received primarily in most mammals through the olfactory system. Individuals are recognized based on their unique blend of odorants. Such individual recognition is critical to distinguish familiar conspecifics from intruders and to recognize offspring. Social signals can also trigger stereotyped responses like mating behaviors. Specific sensory pathways for individual recognition and eliciting stereotyped responses have been identified both in the early olfactory system and its connected cortices. Oxytocin is emerging as a major state modulator of sensory processing with distinct functions in early and higher olfactory brain regions. The brain state induced through Oxytocin influences social perception. Oxytocin acting on different brain regions can promote either exploration and recognition towards same- or other-sex conspecifics, or association learning. Region-specific deletion of Oxytocin receptors suffices to disrupt these behaviors. Together, these recent insights highlight that Oxytocin's function in social behaviors cannot be understood without considering its actions on sensory processing.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Perception; Oxytocin; Receptors, Oxytocin; Signal Transduction; Smell; Social Behavior
PubMed: 28812265
DOI: 10.1007/7854_2017_8 -
Clinical Endocrinology Feb 2019Patients with hypopituitarism display impaired quality of life and excess morbidity and mortality, despite apparently optimal pituitary hormone replacement. Oxytocin is... (Review)
Review
Patients with hypopituitarism display impaired quality of life and excess morbidity and mortality, despite apparently optimal pituitary hormone replacement. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide synthesized in the anterior hypothalamus which plays an important role in controlling social and emotional behaviour, body weight and metabolism. Recent studies have suggested that a deficiency of oxytocin may be evident in patients with hypopituitarism and craniopharyngioma, and that this may be associated with deficits in cognitive empathy. Preliminary data hint at potential benefits of oxytocin therapy in improving these deficits and the accompanying metabolic disturbances that are common in these conditions. However, several challenges remain, including an incomplete understanding of the regulation and mechanisms of action of oxytocin, difficulties in accurately measuring oxytocin levels and in establishing a diagnosis of oxytocin deficiency, and a need to determine both the optimal mode of administration for oxytocin therapy and an acceptable safety profile with long-term use. This review considers the data linking oxytocin to the neuropsychological and metabolic disturbances evident in patients with craniopharyngioma and hypopituitarism, and describes the challenges that need to be overcome before replacement therapy can be considered as a therapeutic option in clinical practice.
Topics: Animals; Craniopharyngioma; Hormone Replacement Therapy; Humans; Hypopituitarism; Oxytocics; Oxytocin; Quality of Life
PubMed: 30506703
DOI: 10.1111/cen.13909 -
Current Topics in Behavioral... 2018The oxytocin/vasopressin ancestor molecule has been regulating reproductive and social behaviors for more than 500 million years. In all mammals, oxytocin is the hormone... (Review)
Review
The oxytocin/vasopressin ancestor molecule has been regulating reproductive and social behaviors for more than 500 million years. In all mammals, oxytocin is the hormone indispensable for milk-ejection during nursing (maternal milk provision to offspring), a process that is crucial for successful mammalian parental care. In laboratory mice, a remarkable transcriptional activation occurs during parental behavior within the anterior commissural nucleus (AC), the largest magnocellular oxytocin cell population within the medial preoptic area (although the transcriptional activation was limited to non-oxytocinergic neurons in the AC). Furthermore, there are numerous recent reports on oxytocin's involvement in positive social behaviors in animals and humans. Given all those, the essential involvement of oxytocin in maternal/parental behaviors may seem obvious, but basic researchers are still struggling to pin down the exact role oxytocin plays in the regulation of parental behaviors. A major aim of this review is to more clearly define this role. The best conclusion at this moment is that OT can facilitate the onset of parental behavior, or parental behavior under stressful conditions.In this chapter, we will first review the basics of rodent parental behavior. Next, the neuroanatomy of oxytocin systems with respect to parental behavior in laboratory mice will be introduced. Then, the research history on the functional relationship between oxytocin and parental behavior, along with advancements in various techniques, will be reviewed. Finally, some technical considerations in conducting behavioral experiments on parental behavior in rodents will be addressed, with the aim of shedding light on certain pitfalls that should be avoided, so that the progress of research in this field will be facilitated. In this age of populism, researchers should strive to do even more scholarly works with further attention to methodological details.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Female; Humans; Male; Maternal Behavior; Neurons; Oxytocin; Paternal Behavior; Receptors, Oxytocin; Social Behavior
PubMed: 28812267
DOI: 10.1007/7854_2017_11 -
International Journal of Molecular... Feb 2021Schizophrenia is a form of mental disorder that is behaviorally characterized by abnormal behavior, such as social function deficits or other behaviors that are... (Review)
Review
Schizophrenia is a form of mental disorder that is behaviorally characterized by abnormal behavior, such as social function deficits or other behaviors that are disconnected from reality. Dysregulation of oxytocin may play a role in regulating the expression of schizophrenia. Given oxytocin's role in social cognition and behavior, a variety of studies have examined the potential clinical benefits of oxytocin in improving the psychopathology of patients with schizophrenia. In this review, we highlight the evidence for the role of endogenous oxytocin in schizophrenia, from animal models to human studies. We further discuss the potential of oxytocin as a therapeutic agent for schizophrenia and its implication in future treatment.
Topics: Animals; Behavior; Cognition; Humans; Oxytocin; Polymorphism, Genetic; Receptors, Oxytocin; Schizophrenia
PubMed: 33670047
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22042146 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2021The neuropeptide oxytocin is produced in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus. In addition to its extensively studied... (Review)
Review
The neuropeptide oxytocin is produced in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus. In addition to its extensively studied influence on social behavior and reproductive function, central oxytocin signaling potently reduces food intake in both humans and animal models and has potential therapeutic use for obesity treatment. In this review, we highlight rodent model research that illuminates various neural, behavioral, and signaling mechanisms through which oxytocin's anorexigenic effects occur. The research supports a framework through which oxytocin reduces food intake via amplification of within-meal physiological satiation signals rather than by altering between-meal interoceptive hunger and satiety states. We also emphasize the distributed neural sites of action for oxytocin's effects on food intake and review evidence supporting the notion that central oxytocin is communicated throughout the brain, at least in part, through humoral-like volume transmission. Finally, we highlight mechanisms through which oxytocin interacts with various energy balance-associated neuropeptide and endocrine systems (e.g., agouti-related peptide, melanin-concentrating hormone, leptin), as well as the behavioral mechanisms through which oxytocin inhibits food intake, including effects on nutrient-specific ingestion, meal size control, food reward-motivated responses, and competing motivations.
Topics: Animals; Eating; Energy Metabolism; Feeding Behavior; Humans; Neurons; Obesity; Oxytocin; Social Behavior
PubMed: 34639199
DOI: 10.3390/ijms221910859