love, actually: how a tiny peptide drives your passion for ......to answer these questions,...

Love, Actually: How a Tiny Peptide Drives Your Passion for Dogs Oxytocin. Most of us think of it as the hormone that helps bitches whelp and produce milk. And yes, it’s that, but so much more. A series of recent studies have revealed how oxytocin has a major effect on the brains of both people and dogs to strengthen the human-canine bond – that indescribable interspecies attachment that might just explain why you’re reading this. Oxytocin is a peptide hormone that is secreted into the blood from the pituitary, a pea-sized structure at the base of the brain, although it also can be made in many other cells of the body. Its size – just 9 amino acids long – truly belies its important role in how people respond to the world around them. [link to “Read more!] Oxytocin is a major driver in human social communication. When a mother gazes at her infant, attachment begins to develop. Human attachment is a more sophisticated version of imprinting in which an orphaned baby duck will imprint on a human and will follow it around. Oxytocin plays other roles in humans as well, including enhancing reward centers in the brain and inhibiting stress (1, 2). Recently scientists have been studying the role of oxytocin in the human-canine bond. It was already known that interactions between humans and dogs resulted in oxytocin release into the blood stream of both species (3). To understand more about the mechanism of this mutual hormonal response, researchers performed experiments to ask the following questions: Is gaze important for mutual oxytocin release between humans and dogs as it is for mothers and infants? And does mutual oxytocin release happen between humans and hand-raised wolves? To answer these questions, researchers measured urine oxytocin levels in dogs or hand-raised wolves and their people before and after spending 30 minutes alone in a room together (4). During that time, the owners could gaze at the dogs or wolves, talk to them and touch them. Results: Dogs differed in the amount of time that they would gaze at their owners; they were divided into long gazers and short gazers. Long gazers induced significantly higher mutual oxytocin levels in both the people and themselves during the 30-minute interaction, whereas short gazers and wolves did not.

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Page 1: Love, Actually: How a Tiny Peptide Drives Your Passion for ......To answer these questions, researchers measured urine oxytocin levels in dogs or hand-raised wolves and their people

Love,Actually:HowaTinyPeptideDrivesYourPassionforDogs

Oxytocin.Mostofusthinkofitasthehormonethathelpsbitcheswhelpandproducemilk.Andyes,it’sthat,butsomuchmore.Aseriesofrecentstudieshaverevealedhowoxytocinhasamajoreffectonthebrainsofbothpeopleanddogstostrengthenthehuman-caninebond–thatindescribableinterspeciesattachmentthatmightjustexplainwhyyou’rereadingthis.Oxytocinisapeptidehormonethatissecretedintothebloodfromthepituitary,apea-sizedstructureatthebaseofthebrain,althoughitalsocanbemadeinmanyothercellsofthebody.Itssize–just9aminoacidslong–trulybeliesitsimportantroleinhowpeoplerespondtotheworldaroundthem.[linkto“Readmore!]Oxytocinisamajordriverinhumansocialcommunication.Whenamothergazesatherinfant,attachmentbeginstodevelop.Humanattachmentisamoresophisticatedversionofimprintinginwhichanorphanedbabyduckwillimprintonahumanandwillfollowitaround.Oxytocinplaysotherrolesinhumansaswell,includingenhancingrewardcentersinthebrainandinhibitingstress(1,2).Recentlyscientistshavebeenstudyingtheroleofoxytocininthehuman-caninebond.Itwasalreadyknownthatinteractionsbetweenhumansanddogsresultedinoxytocinreleaseintothebloodstreamofbothspecies(3).Tounderstandmoreaboutthemechanismofthismutualhormonalresponse,researchersperformedexperimentstoaskthefollowingquestions:Isgazeimportantformutualoxytocinreleasebetweenhumansanddogsasitisformothersandinfants?Anddoesmutualoxytocinreleasehappenbetweenhumansandhand-raisedwolves?Toanswerthesequestions,researchersmeasuredurineoxytocinlevelsindogsorhand-raisedwolvesandtheirpeoplebeforeandafterspending30minutesaloneinaroomtogether(4).Duringthattime,theownerscouldgazeatthedogsorwolves,talktothemandtouchthem.Results:Dogsdifferedintheamountoftimethattheywouldgazeattheirowners;theyweredividedintolonggazersandshortgazers.Longgazersinducedsignificantlyhighermutualoxytocinlevelsinboththepeopleandthemselvesduringthe30-minuteinteraction,whereasshortgazersandwolvesdidnot.

Page 2: Love, Actually: How a Tiny Peptide Drives Your Passion for ......To answer these questions, researchers measured urine oxytocin levels in dogs or hand-raised wolves and their people

Conclusion:Asintherelationshipbetweenmotherandchild,humansinteractingwithdogsexperiencegaze-inducedmutualoxytocinsecretionandthelongerthegaze,thehighertheresultingoxytocinlevelsinbothhumansanddogs.Thishormonalinteractioniscalledtheoxytocin-gazepositiveloop(we’llrefertoitastheOGPLforshort).Thisdiagramillustratesthatstepsthatareinvolvedinthispositivefeedbackloop:

TheOxytocin-GazePositiveLoop

Sowhydon’tyoutryalittleexperimentnow?Sitdownandgazeintoyourdog’sadmiringeyes.Nowthinkabouthowitmakesyoufeel.Itmightfeelsilly,butjustgoaheadanddoit.Whenyouthinkaboutyourfeelings,dothewords“calm,”“love,”“peaceful,”“happy,”and/or“content”cometomind?Iftheydo,thenyouareexperiencingtheOGPLloop!Asadoglover,Iamsurethatyoucanconnectwiththeclosingstatementsintheresearchers’publication:”Theseresultssuggestthathumansmayfeelaffectionfortheircompaniondogssimilartothatfelttowardhumanfamilymembers…”Youcan’thelpit–it’sachemicalattraction!References

1. DölenG,DarvishzadehA,HuangKW,MalenkaRC.Socialrewardrequirescoordinatedactivityofnucleusaccumbensoxytocinandserotonin.Nature2013;501(7466):179-84

2. NeumannID.Involvementofthebrainoxytocinsysteminstresscoping:interactionswiththehypothalamo-pituitary-adrenalaxis.ProgBrainRes2002;139:147-62

3. OdendaalJS,MeintjesRA.NeurophysiologicalcorrelatesofaffiliativebehaviourbetweenhumansanddogsVetJ.2003;165(3):296-301

4. NagasawaM,MitsuiS,EnS,OhtaniN,ObtaM,SakumaY,OnakaT,MogiK,KikusuiT.Oxytocin-gazepositiveloopandthecoevolutionofhuman-dogbonds.Science2015;348(6232):333-336.

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