Oxytocin and Attachment Flashcards
Two ways in which animal studies are used…
1- understand biological mechanisms
2- screen for new treatments
We benefit from social behaviours…
Any behaviour involving an interaction with con species
Unlike most mammals…
Prairie voles are monogamous, so are used as a model of human pair bonding
Love is seen as…
a distillation of what is common across those claiming to be in love.
Bartells + Zeki (2004) fMRIs of couples in love found
Specific and overlapping regions for both maternal and romantic love, areas rich in oxytocin and vasopression receptors.
Core brain activations underlying romantic love =
looking at my romantic partner - looking at another’s romantic partner
Fusiform cortex _________ + occipital and orbitofrontal cortex _______
facial recognition, reward
Bartells and Zeki (2004) was reviewed by…
Rilling and Young (2014)
Oxytocin and vasopression found ____, Oxytocin is involved in ____ and vasopression is involved in _____ + ______
20th Century, maternal behaviour, learning and memory
Oxytocin and vasopression are produced by…
supraotic and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus, sending axons to terminate in the posterior pituitary gland.
Oxytocin and vasopression are ______ neuropeptides. _____ more important in males, but _____ more important in females.
Prosocial, vasopression, oxytocin
Partner preference test
Ross and Young, 2009
Male and female vole spend 18-24 hrs together, then over a test period how much time do they spend together compared to a stranger?
(70 compared to 20 minutes)
Oxytocin receptor antagonist infused into 3 different regions…
in the nucleus accumbens or prefrontal cortex blocked cohabitation
OTR-KO mice reduced maternal behaviour
Pups scattered, OTR-KO take longer to retrieve, spend less time suckling and grooming.
Gabor et al., (2011) social recognition test
oxytocin facilitates social recognition
