Oxytocin is a hormone made primarily in the hypothalamus and secreted from the posterior pituitary. It is associated with some physiologic events associated with pregnancy or birth (such as uterine contractions), sex (such as orgasm), and in animals associated with protective or “parental” behaviors. The hypothalamus also can use oxytocin as a neurotransmitter within the brain, and there is evidence that it can work through the reward system (that involves the “VTA” and dopamine) we discussed in class. In humans, there are a number of papers exploring the role of oxytocin in social behaviors. The precise role of oxytocin in social behavior in humans is not fully consistent when comparing many individual experiments. This option requires reading a review article that summarizes some reported effects of oxytocin on human behavior, and works to come up with an option that explains how oxytocin may work to guide social behavior. An underlying problem addressed is a quote from the paper that says “..situational and/or individual difference moderators might play a role in determining what type of effect oxytocin will have on prosocial cognition and behavior.

The paper comes up with 3 possible theories:

1) “Anxiety reduction”, 2) “Affiliative motivation”, and 3) “Perceptual selectivity/social salience”.

The paper then leans on one of these theories as favored to be more likely.

This option requires below:

1. Read this review paper that is attached (from 2011, in the journal “Trends in Cognitive Sciences”, or “TICS”). Also at least look at the abstract and introduction from the second paper attached (from 2013, in the journal “PNAS”). The text from the review paper is 7 pages, including two “boxes” with supplemental information. Read all of these 7 pages (it should not take too long).
2. For the post, summarize a current problem in the literature regarding our current understanding of the role of oxytocin in social behaviors in humans.
3. Summarize the 3 proposed theories regarding oxytocin function related to social behaviors.
4. State which of the 3 theories the paper supports, AND state your opinion, whether you agree with the paper, or whether you think one of the other two options seems to make sense, or whether you have an entirely different idea about it that was not stated in the paper. This last part is your thoughts, and there is no right or wrong conclusion. I also attached a second paper that is more recent than this review (from 2013) that explores a connection between oxytocin and a well-studied reward system in the brain that I mentioned above.