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Cited by 70Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorAttachment and Relationship DynamicsHuman-Animal Interaction Studies

Sex, love and oxytocin: Two metaphors and a molecule

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Carter, C. Sue·2022·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
DOI 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104948PMC PMC9759207
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Abstract

Dozens of studies, most conducted in the last four decades, have implicated oxytocin, as well as vasopressin and their receptors, in processes that mediate selective sociality and the consequences of early experience. Oxytocin is critical for the capacity to experience emotional safety and healthy sexuality. Oxytocin also plays a central role in almost every aspect of physical and mental health, including the coordination of sociality and loving relationships with physiological reactions to challenges across the lifespan. Species, including prairie voles, that share with humans the capacity for selective social bonds have been a particularly rich source of insights into the behavioral importance of peptides. The purpose of this historical review is to describe the discovery of a central role for oxytocin in behavioral interactions associated with love, and in the capacity to use sociality to anticipate and cope with challenges across the lifespan - a process that here is called "sociostasis."

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  • Whereas the construct of oxytocin has become more precise, the definitions and constructs of evolved nest provision are less established.

    “Whereas the construct of oxytocin has become more precise (Carter, 2022), the definitions and constructs of evolved nest provision are less established.”

    From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Carter, 2022

  • The oxytocinergic system may be a critical feature of emotional safety and healthy sexuality, or the biology of love, providing sociostasis throughout life.

    “The oxytocinergic system may be a critical feature of emotional safety and healthy sexuality, or the biology of love, providing “sociostasis” throughout life (Carter, 2022).”

    From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Carter, 2022

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Authors
Carter, C. S.
Affiliations
Indiana University Bloomington (US)
Corresponding author
Carter, C. Sue
ORCID
Carter, C. Sue
Venue
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-12
Volume
143
Pages
104948
ISSN
0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104948
PMC
PMC9759207
OpenAlex
W4308308742
Cited by
70
References
156
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 15
FWCI
2.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI098112)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01HD075750, R01HD098117)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
Keywords
oxytocin, vasopressin, love, social bonds, Microtus ochrogaster, emotional safety, sexuality, early life experience, coping, social behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Arvicolinae, Humans, Love, Oxytocin, Social Behavior, Receptors, Oxytocin, Metaphor

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