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      Oxytocin: the great facilitator of life.

      1 , , ,
      Progress in neurobiology
      Elsevier BV

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          Abstract

          Oxytocin (Oxt) is a nonapeptide hormone best known for its role in lactation and parturition. Since 1906 when its uterine-contracting properties were described until 50 years later when its sequence was elucidated, research has focused on its peripheral roles in reproduction. Only over the past several decades have researchers focused on what functions Oxt might have in the brain, the subject of this review. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that magnocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei are the neurons of origin for the Oxt released from the posterior pituitary. Smaller cells in various parts of the brain, as well as release from magnocellular dendrites, provide the Oxt responsible for modulating various behaviors at its only identified receptor. Although Oxt is implicated in a variety of "non-social" behaviors, such as learning, anxiety, feeding and pain perception, it is Oxt's roles in various social behaviors that have come to the fore recently. Oxt is important for social memory and attachment, sexual and maternal behavior, and aggression. Recent work implicates Oxt in human bonding and trust as well. Human disorders characterized by aberrant social interactions, such as autism and schizophrenia, may also involve Oxt expression. Many, if not most, of Oxt's functions, from social interactions (affiliation, aggression) and sexual behavior to eventual parturition, lactation and maternal behavior, may be viewed as specifically facilitating species propagation.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Prog Neurobiol
          Progress in neurobiology
          Elsevier BV
          1873-5118
          0301-0082
          Jun 2009
          : 88
          : 2
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Section on Neural Gene Expression, NIMH, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
          Article
          S0301-0082(09)00046-X NIHMS109583
          10.1016/j.pneurobio.2009.04.001
          2689929
          19482229
          328956f1-0f52-49c9-bf43-830abc7d04f0
          History

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