Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin is often referred to as the “love hormone,” but according to the authors of a new study published Wednesday in the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, the innocent sounding name belies the substance’s hidden dark side.
In their paper, Dr. Ian Mitchell from the University of Birmingham’s School of Psychology and his colleagues report that they have discovered significant similarities between the way in which oxytocin effects people and the way that alcohol consumption influences their behavior.
In fact, they conclude that the two substances are more similar than experts previously believed, and that oxytocin increases prosocial behaviors such as altruism, empathy, and generosity while also making people more trusting of others. It does so by suppressing the action of the prefrontal and limbic cortical circuits, eliminating social inhibitors such as fear and anxiety.
Understanding how the “love hormone” changes our behavior
Dr. Mitchell explained in a statement that he and his fellow researchers compared the existing research to both oxytocin and alcohol and were surprised by the similarities between the two compounds. Even thought they target different brain receptors, they cause common activity on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transmission in the aforementioned parts of the brain.
These neural circuits, he continued, control how a person perceives anxiety or stress in a social situation – answering questions during a job interview or summoning up the courage to ask out someone on a date. Using oxytocin and alcohol can help these situations seem less stressful, and using the hormone nasally seems to mirror the effects of drinking alcohol.
“Relatively little is known about the mechanisms by which oxytocin, acting on cerebral oxytocin receptors, causes changes in social behavior,” Dr. Mitchell told redOrbit via email. “It has been implicitly assumed by many researchers that oxytocin induces these effects by triggering specific changes in neuronal activity in selected neural circuits.”
“The alternative view is that oxytocin, like alcohol, dampens functioning in a range of neuronal circuits via a pharmacological mechanism which boosts GABA-mediated neuronal activity,” he added. “Some of the circuits involved lie in the prefrontal cortex,” and compromising how those circuits function could unmask responses that “dominated… early stages of development.”
Caution urged when using oxytocin therapeutically
In addition to the health issues that come with frequent alcohol consumption, the researchers pointed out that there are undesirable socio-cognitive effects that both alcohol use and oxytocin and cause. For instance, it can make people more aggressive, jealous of perceived competitors, boastful, and focused on their so-called in-group at the expense of other people.
Furthermore, consuming these compounds can alter the sense of fear that helps keep us out of trouble and keeps us from taking unnecessary risks. While oxytocin can be used to treat psychological and psychiatric conditions and could benefit a tremendous amount of people, Dr. Mitchell’s team emphasizes using caution when using the neurochemical.
“The direct manipulation of GABA mediated transmission by alcohol is associated with marked addictive and dependency issues,” he told redOrbit. “Similar problems with benzodiazepines, which act on GABA transmission in a similar manner, have dramatically curtailed their therapeutic usage in the chronic treatment of anxiety disorders.”
“To date there have been very few studies conducted which have looked at the long term effects of giving oxytocin, or indeed, the effects of different doses,” Dr. Mitchell added. “Against this background, the development of therapeutic uses of oxytocin should proceed with great caution.”
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