Oxytocin may inhibit social phobia

kavin submitted, created time 4 months 5 days (www.news-medical.net)

Swedish and British scientists have shown using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that the hormone oxytocin can inhibit feelings of anxiety in specific individuals. Their discovery might lead to a better understanding and the improved treatment of psychiatric affections in which people feel distressed when meeting others, such as in cases of autism and social phobia.
Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that is secreted by the body during massage, childbirth and breastfeeding to induce a calming, analgesic effect

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The Neurochemistry of Forgiving and Forgetting

jerry submitted, created time 6 months 1 week (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

A new study shows that the hormone oxytocin may spur us to trust others even after they have betrayed us by suppressing a region of the brain that signals fear. The findings could lead to a better understanding of social phobias and related disorders.

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Oxytocin: The Neuropeptide of Love Reveals Some of Its Secrets

addict submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.cellmetabolism.org)

The neuropeptide oxytocin is synthesized in the brain and released from neurohypophyseal terminals into the blood and within defined brain regions that regulate emotional, cognitive, and social behaviors. A recent study of CD38−/− mice has demonstrated an essential role for the transmembrane receptor CD38 in secretion of oxytocin into the blood.

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'Trust' hormone helps mind-reading too

Paramecium submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.newscientist.com)

THE trust hormone, it seems, is also the mind-reading hormone. A sniff of oxytocin, which underpins social attachment among animals, also turns out to improve men's ability to read other people's emotions.

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