Charles Haynes wrote:
The physiology of oxytocin (and to a lesser degree vasopressin) are really fascinating.
Indeed.
A cautionary note. I know at least one person who's tried intranasal oxytocin as a treatment for attachment issues (short of a formal diagnosis of attachment disorder) but unsuccessfully. So it's not a panacea.
I always thought that prolactin, not oxytocin, was the magic joy juice that ought to be bottled to make human beings loving and Buddha-serene. Oxytocin contracts the uterus and the alveoli for the milk ejection reflex while prolactin is responsible for creating all that bountiful milk/love in the first place. Oxytocin comes in at-times-violent bursts while prolactin is more constantly present. The bonding effects of prolactin seem to not be very well studied, although I note that prolactin levels are elevated in expectant and new fathers as well as in mothers.
Anyway, prolactin and oxytocin work hand-in-hand in lactation. Perhaps both of them together would work better than oxytocin alone (or perhaps people would not be willing to lactate in order to experience the wonderful prolactin high).
--hmm
