Of the dozens of hormones in the human body, oxytocin may be the most overrated, thanks to groundbreaking research.

Associated with romantic pleasure, orgasm, philanthropy, and more, this chemical is often referred to as the “cuddling hormone,” the “moral chemical,” and even the “source of love and well-being.”

He has inspired bestselling books and TED Talks. Scientists and authors have repeatedly argued that simply spraying the substance into the nostrils can “inculcate” compassion and generosity.

“But much of what is being said about the hormone is exaggeration at best,” comments The Atlantic, which contacted several neuroscientists on the occasion of the study.

Edge Chemistry

Decades of extensive research has shown that this versatile chemical can sometimes evoke heartfelt emotions in many animals: cooperativeness in meerkats, monogamy in rodents, desire for parental care in monkeys and sheep. But under other conditions, oxytocin in many creatures – from rodents to humans – is also associated with completely different conditions: aggression and fear.

Now, researchers are figuring out that not only is oxytocin (probably) not enough to form strong bonds, it may not even be necessary: ​​genetic research suggests that a class of rodents (prairie voles) can mate with a regular partner without his help.

This discovery could fundamentally shake up the entire field of neuroscience, prompting scientists to revisit some of the old data that once pointed to oxytocin as the “A and Z” of animal love. But hugs, as it turned out, can be strong even without her. cuddle hormone “Even the most cuddly creatures,” writes the Atlantic.

Data from studies of the hormone in humans are in some cases confused and conflicting, but results from small rodent studies in the US Midwest are considered reliable. And these animals are known to be one of the few mammalian species that mate in monogamous relationships throughout their lives and raise their young together.

For many decades and in various geographical areas, researchers have recorded how these rodents they hugged in their nests, they consoled each other in stressful situations and scared away other rodents when they tried to invade their families. And every time, scientists have found oxytocin, says Sue Carter, a behavioral neuroscientist who led some of the first studies on these animals’ connections.

Somehow, the effects of oxytocin became dogma until another study disproved the facts.

Study

About a decade ago, Nirao Sha, a neurogeneticist and psychiatrist at Stanford, and his colleagues decided to cut out the oxytocin receptor from this species of rodent using a genetic technique called CRISPR.

Sha then reasoned that if group manipulation were correct, a group of rodents would be born that would not be affected by oxytocin, and therefore these creatures would not be loyal to their partners or interested in their young, thus proving that the CRISPR technique have been effectively applied.

But what they expected did not happen. Rodents settled in families, as if nothing had changed. The find was so unexpected that the team wondered if they had made a mistake with someone. “I clearly remember how I sat and thought: for half a minute, how is there no difference?” describes Kristen Berendzen, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist at the University of California at San Francisco and one of the leaders of the study. But when three different groups of researchers repeated the experiment, the results matched the observations of the first group.

A satisfactory explanation for the failure of decades of research has not yet been given. It’s possible that oxytocin can bind to more than one hormone receptor, some previous research has suggested, Carter says. But some researchers, including Emory University’s Larry Young, have an alternative, more radical theory: perhaps the lack of an oxytocin receptor causes the brain to create an “alternative path to love.”

Many took this study as another blow to the oxytocin myth. But some researchers think the results reveal something deeper: “It shows us how important communication is,” says Carter, “for meadow voles, but potentially for us too.

For social mammals, communication is not just an emotional parameter. It is an essential element in building communities, surviving beyond childhood, and ensuring that future generations can do the same.

“It’s one of the most important relationships any mammal can have,” says Bianca Jones Marlin, a neuroscientist at Columbia University. When oxytocin is available, it likely induces this intimacy. And when is he not? Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Devanand Manoli of the University of San Francisco has a possible answer: evolution may be trying to fill a gap so it doesn’t “fail on the first try,” a trait so important to mammalian life.

Source Atlantic