What is oxytocin and what functions does this hormone perform?

What is the role of oxytocin in our mind and behavior?

The oxytocin is one of those substances that make the field of neuroscience and biology more interesting.

The reason is that oxytocin is closely related to affective bonds of all kinds, both those that are as strong as those experienced by loving couples and the more diffuse ones, such as those that unite a person with his or her community of friends and neighbors.

Oxytocin is thus a small piece of body chemistry that allows us to scientifically explain such intense and inexplicable sensations as those related to love. This is what makes many people try to understand how it works in order to get an idea of the nature of what they feel when they see a certain person, when they hug someone, or when they kiss.

What is oxytocin?

But let's start with the basics. What is oxytocin? It is basically a substance produced by our own body, specifically, in a structure in the brain called the hypothalamus and in other organs throughout the body. In terms of its function, oxytocin is extremely versatile, and can act both as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter.

As a hormone, it travels through the Blood to reach different tissues and organs of the human body and causes them to react in a certain way.oxytocin, following protocols designed by thousands of years of evolution and that have to do with our way of adjusting to different situations in the best possible way.

As a neurotransmitter, oxytocin travels between the small spaces in which communication between neurons is established (the so-called synaptic spaces) and therefore plays a role in the transmission of electrical signals throughout the nervous system. plays a role in the transmission of electrical signals throughout the nervous system, including the brain.including the brain.

Functions of this hormone

However, one of its most significant specific functions has to do with love and affection. Oxytocin participates in this aspect of our life as a hormone and also as a neurotransmitter.

1. Linked to love

It is often said that oxytocin is the substance responsible for the existence of love.. This is a reductionist and somewhat risky conclusion, considering that there is no single conception of what love is and, in any case, many other substances are involved in the subjective experience related to affection and falling in love. Oxytocin, as with all neurotransmitters, never works alone: it is always embedded in a biochemical puzzle that shapes our mind and our actions.

However, it is true that there are some patterns in which the relationship between oxytocin and the whole set of experiences and processes that have to do with love and affection can be seen.

For example, oxytocin levels increase when we have to recognize familiar faces.. It also increases when looking into the eyes of loved ones, plays a role in remembering members of one's own group and, in general, is secreted in relatively large amounts in situations related to love and attachment. When we experience the feeling of sharing an intimate relationship with another person and when we feel that we are in a trusting environment, more oxytocin is secreted, as explained in the article on the chemistry of love.

In fact, it has been seen that in people with chronic depression who are given an extra dose of oxytocin, they tend to pay more attention to happy faces than to sad ones.

2. Regulator of childbirth and maternity

Oxytocin is involved in a variety of other processes. Etymologically, the word "oxytocin" means "rapid birth" in Greek. This is because, as a hormone, oxytocin plays a very important role in childbirth and, by extension, in breastfeeding, two fundamental processes in motherhood, as the physiologist Henry Dale, who named this substance, has found.two fundamental processes in motherhood, as verified by the physiologist Henry Dale, who gave this substance its name.

Specifically, oxytocin causes certain muscle fibers of the uterus to remain contracted during childbirth, and it is also responsible for the contraction of certain muscle fibers of the uterus during childbirth.It is also responsible for the contractions that occur before birth. In addition, oxytocin has certain mechanical effects on the breasts, causing them to eject breast milk.

3. The role of this hormone in sexuality

During sexual intercourse, oxytocin levels in the blood are usually significantly higher than normal.. This reinforces the hypothesis that this hormone plays an important role in the chemical and mechanical processes involved in sexuality.

It has been proven, for example, that oxytocin intervenes in the appearance of vaginal contractions that make it easier for the sperm to reach the egg. In the case of men, it produces contractions in the prostate and seminal vesicles. In addition, in both men and women oxytocin levels in the blood peak during orgasm..

4. Creating social bonds

As we have seen, oxytocin is strongly associated with the generation of emotional bonds, and not only those related to motherhood.and not only those related to motherhood.

This is not accidental. The fact of being able to count on the help and support of other people is one of the great evolutionary advantages that our species has had, and that is why it can be said that oxytocin is part of the social glue that has benefited us so much.. If the fact of coming into contact with a person makes us secrete more oxytocin, we eventually enter into a chemical and relational dynamic in which personal bonds are very strong. Thus, the bond becomes very resilient and remains over time.

Bibliographical references:

• Delgado, J. M. (1998). Manual de Neurociencia. Editorial Síntesis.
• Puelles, L. (2008). Neuroanatomy. Editorial Médica Panamericana.