Friday 2 August 2013

Go to the dark side of... oxytocin!

Oxytocin often is called “hormone of love and fidelity”, but, as Jedi's power, it is also has a dark side. Instead of creating social network links and sense of  well-being it can enhance the emotional discomfort and anxiety.

The experiments were held on three types of mouse. The first group of mouse there are no oxytocin receptors on  lateral septum of a brain, the second one has very high level of  receptors to  oxytocin and the third one was normal. Mouse in the first group placed in a cell with aggressive mouse six hours later did not show any trace of fear, however, animals from the second group were very frightened.

Thus, the experiment showed that oxytocin can enhance all types of memory: both happy and unhappy. For example, if you were humiliated by your classmates, oxytocin will enhance the pain.


Source: Northwestern University news


No comments:

Post a Comment