The DOI matches its Crossref record; 68 of the 68 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 20 of the 42 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Sexual monogamy is potentially costly for males, and few mammalian species along with humans exhibit it. The hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated in mediating pair bonds in various species, but as yet, we know little about neurobiological factors that might act to promote fidelity, especially in men. Here we provide evidence for a mechanism by which OXT may contribute to romantic bonds in men by enhancing their partner's attractiveness and reward value compared with other women.
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Claims the paper makes
28 Own result · 18 Own method · 13 Own interpretation · 11 No full text of the sources · 9 Partly supported · 8 Supported · 4 Sources not found · 1 Not checked yet · accuracy not yet measured
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“The evolutionarily conserved neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is associated with the formation of partner bonds in some species via interactions with brain dopamine reward systems.”
- Also stated in: § emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy · plain
“In prairie voles, partner bonds are formed after the neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) or arginine vasopressin (AVP) are released in the brain during mating.Their effects on bonding are mediated via interactions with dopamine (DA) release, particularly in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc).”
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [2] source
Section 8, “Neurochemical/hormone interactions” (page unavailable), reports that oxytocin and dopamine interact in partner-preference formation in female prairie voles. Blocking either oxytocin or dopamine receptors prevented preferences induced through the other system, supporting the claim about partner bonds in some mammalian species. (LLM, conf=0.94)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy · plain
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“and may facilitate the fidelity of men in a monogamous relationship by making them keep a greater distance from other women (29).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [29] source
The Abstract reports that intranasal oxytocin caused men in monogamous relationships, but not single men, to keep a greater distance from an attractive woman during a first encounter. The Discussion says this selective effect may promote fidelity, matching the citing sentence’s qualified claim. (LLM, conf=0.94)
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“and consequently, OXT levels are higher in new lovers than in unattached singles (24).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [24] source
The Results report substantially higher plasma oxytocin levels in new lovers than in non-attached singles, with a significant group effect. The Discussion reiterates this comparison. (LLM, conf=0.95)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Genetic variability in OXT influences DA signaling in brain reward centers (15)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [15] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Results (Stress-Induced Activation of DA Neurotransmission; page unavailable) link OXT genotype to dopamine responses, and the Discussion locates the association in the right ventromedial caudate. The citing sentence omits important limits: the observed association was during a pain-stress challenge and was significant in female participants, not males. (LLM, conf=0.85)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Partly supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“In fact, another non-pharmaco-fMRI study in which no additional instruction was given also failed to detect any striatal activation in response to partner faces (41).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [41] source
The Methods describe an fMRI face-viewing task in which participants focused on photographs and responded to occasional ghost images; they do not describe an additional instruction concerning partner faces. The Results list significant responses to partner faces versus baseline and unfamiliar faces, with no striatal region reported (Tables I and II; page unavailable). This supports a failure to detect striatal activation, not a claim that none occurred. (LLM, conf=0.90)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Houses serve as an appropriate control stimuli for faces because they share similar spatial and visual features (48).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [48] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The FFA section (p. 1) describes closely matched face and house discrimination tasks involving spatial relations and part shapes, and the Domain Specificity discussion (p. 7) says the authors matched the house tasks to the face tasks as closely as possible. This supports using houses as nonface controls, but the paper does not establish that houses and faces themselves share similar spatial and visual properties; it describes matched tasks and manipulations instead. (LLM, conf=0.83)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Partly supported
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, we observed a greater activation in the caudate body (right: MNI x, y, z: 21, -13, 25, t (152) = 2.58, P FWE = 0.03), possibly suggesting that OXT may also influence nonpartner bonding via distinct striatal nuclei.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Importantly, as indicated by the interaction effect of treatment and bond, OXT enhanced the positive partner bias in attractiveness ratings in both the DSC (t (19) = 2.65, P = 0.02, d = 0.27; Fig. 1A) and RPL studies (t (19) = 2.32, P = 0.03, d = 0.17; Fig. 1C).”
- Also stated in: § Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner · plain
“In both experiments, intranasal OXT treatment (24 IU) made subjects perceive their female partner's face as more attractive compared with unfamiliar women but had no effect on the attractiveness of other familiar women.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plaindirectn = 20- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, a correlation analysis between the positive partner bias and love styles revealed that only a positive association with Eros was significant in the DSC and RPL studies, which survived Bonferroni correction for multiple testing”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As expected, neither the whole-brain nor the ROI-based analyses showed any OXT effect on responses to nonsocial control stimuli ([House OXT > House PLC ] or [House OXT < House PLC ]).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Probably not a substantial claim. 38
- It may state two separate claims as one. 27
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“In prairie voles, partner bonds are formed after the neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) or arginine vasopressin (AVP) are released in the brain during mating.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [2] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
Section 4.2 reports increased oxytocin in the nucleus accumbens during sociosexual experience and evidence that both oxytocin and vasopressin promote partner preferences. It says mating-related changes in males *suggest* vasopressin release, rather than establishing that release as a fact; the claim also specifies mating where the oxytocin finding says sociosexual experience. (LLM, conf=0.83)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Partly supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Furthermore, in different species of voles, a monogamous, as opposed to polygamous, pattern of behavior is associated with a higher density of dopamine D2 receptors (D2R) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) (3) and of OXT receptors (OXTR) in mPFC, NAcc, and caudate putamen (4,5).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [3] source
The citation to this paper is attached to the dopamine D2 receptor comparison, not the subsequent oxytocin receptor claim cited to other sources. On p. 4, the paper reports higher D2-like receptor binding in the medial prefrontal cortex of monogamous than promiscuous voles. (LLM, conf=0.93)
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [4] source
- Partly supportedcites [5] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The General Discussion reports higher nucleus accumbens OTR density in monogamous than non-monogamous vole species. But the Results and Discussion found no prefrontal-cortex OTR difference between paired and single male prairie voles, and the paper does not report a mating-pattern difference in caudate-putamen OTR density. The D2-receptor claim is attached to a different citation. (LLM, conf=0.88)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Their effects on bonding are mediated via interactions with dopamine (DA) release, particularly in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [2] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
Section 8, “Neurochemical/hormone interactions,” reports that oxytocin and vasopressin interact with dopamine systems in partner-preference formation, including oxytocin–dopamine receptor interactions in the NAcc. Section 4.3 reports increased NAcc dopamine during mating. The paper does not establish that both hormones’ bonding effects are mediated by dopamine release in the VTA and NAcc; its VTA discussion concerns other neurotransmitters, and its vasopressin–dopamine example involves the ventral pallidum. (LLM, conf=0.88)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Partly supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“Nevertheless, it is currently unclear to what extent peripheral measurements reflect central OXT concentrations (25).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [25] source
In §2A, “Oxytocin In the Periphery” (page not provided), the paper says it remains to be determined whether central oxytocin concentrations parallel peripheral concentrations in particular contexts. It also cautions that uncertainties about plasma measurements require strong conclusions based on them to be qualified. This supports the citing sentence’s statement of uncertainty. (LLM, conf=0.94)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Importantly, three different phases in romantic relationships have been defined that share common biological substrates but also involve different brain systems (11,35,36).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [11] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Conclusions (p. 13) report shared reward-related activation in early-stage and long-term romantic love, alongside attachment-related activation in long-term love. The Implications (p. 12) also distinguish brain regions associated with romantic love from those associated with attachment. The paper does not define three distinct phases of romantic relationships; it says romantic love and attachment can coexist. (LLM, conf=0.86)
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [35] source
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [36] source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Partly supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“An OXT-mediated positive bias in the perception of the female partner can be adaptive and may serve as a long-term resilience factor because such idealization can predict sustained relationship satisfaction over the first 3 y of marriage (34).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [34] source
The study followed newlyweds for three years (When is the Honeymoon Truly Over?) and reports that initial idealization predicted continued satisfaction and resilience (Discussion). The oxytocin-mediated framing is the citing authors’ application of that finding, not a finding attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.91)
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“An OXTR polymorphism has also been associated with pair-bonding traits in females (26).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [26] source
The Discussion states that the study found associations between OXTR variation and behaviors reflecting pair-bonding in women. It also reports significant associations with pair-bonding-related traits in women and girls. No page number is provided in the supplied passages. (LLM, conf=0.93)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“The notion that OXT may play a specific role in maintaining long-term pair bonding in humans is also substantiated by our previous findings that it makes men in a relationship keep a greater social distance from attractive female strangers (29)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Supportedcites [29] source
The Discussion reports that oxytocin led men in monogamous relationships to keep greater distance from attractive female strangers and describes this as evidence for a possible role in maintaining pair-bonds. The Abstract likewise suggests that this behavior may promote relationship maintenance. (LLM, conf=0.94)
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“In this way, a feed-forward loop would be initialized, resulting in a progressive increase in desire for the partner, similar to a drug addict's increased craving for drug consumption (42).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [42] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Partner Addiction Hypothesis describes a positive feedback loop in both partner and substance addiction and says encounters with the partner become more frequent, paralleling escalating drug use. It does not say that desire or craving for the partner progressively increases; it describes decreasing reward as the loop continues. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Partly supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“However, against the background of mounting evidence for anxiogenic and fearenhancing OXT effects (33,43,44), it is necessary that the mechanisms determining the outcome of an OXT treatment are completely identified.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [33] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Discussion (p. 3) reports that oxytocin increased startle responses to negative social stimuli and improved memory for them, supporting a fear-enhancing effect in that context. It does not establish an anxiogenic effect: the paper describes prior anxiolytic findings and says its own results did not show increased arousal or valence ratings. (LLM, conf=0.87)
- Supportedcites [43] source
The opening section says evidence of anxiogenic oxytocin effects in humans has emerged and identifies fear-enhancing effects of oxytocin receptors. The discussion also describes anxiogenic and fear-enhancing effects in humans and mice, while noting that oxytocin's effects vary by context. (LLM, conf=0.92)
- Partly supportedcites [44] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
In “Oxytocin increases anxiety to unpredictable threat” (page not provided), the authors report increased defensive responses to unpredictable shocks and describe this as evidence that oxytocin can be anxiogenic in humans. The same results say responses to predictable shocks were not affected, so this paper does not support the fear-enhancing part of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.88)
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Partly supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“By keeping an exclusive devotion to a single mate, it may open an evolutionary path to biparental care of offspring and shift a potentially destructive competition between males for mates toward more beneficial in-group cooperation (45).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [45] sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Discussion says pair-bonding opened a path to greater male parental investment and redirected potentially destructive competition for mates toward becoming better providers. The introduction also links pair-bonding to parental partnership and within-group cooperation. Our copy does not identify oxytocin as the cause of these changes; searches for oxytocin and related terms found no such passage. (LLM, conf=0.86)
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Partly supported
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The main effect of bond became evident as a positive partner bias, i.e., the participants gave their partners significantly higher attractiveness and arousal ratings than other either unfamiliar or familiar women”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“yielded a main effect of bond (DSC: F (1,19) = 120.96,P < 0.01, ƞ 2 = 0.88; RPL: F (2,18) = 61.61,P < 0.01, ƞ 2 = 0.87) and an interaction effect of bond and treatment”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The arousalbased treatment effect in the DSC study is related to higher arousal ratings under OXT, irrespective of the bond.However, this effect could not be replicated in the RPL study.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“OXT neither altered PLS scores nor the positive bias for familiar as opposed to unfamiliar women (all P > 0.05).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All subjects reported being passionately in love (Table S1).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“we found enhanced responsiveness for the contrast [Partner OXT > Unfamiliar OXT ] > [Partner PLC > Unfamiliar PLC ] bilaterally in the NAcc (Fig. 2A) and VTA (Fig. 3A) (P FWE < 0.05; DSC study).This finding was replicated bilaterally in the NAcc (Fig. 2B) and unilaterally in the right VTA (Fig. 3B; RPL study).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For arousal ratings, we detected only a main effect of bond (DSC: F (1,19) = 74.96,P < 0.01, ƞ 2 = 0.80; RPL: F (2,18) = 84.47,P < 0.01, ƞ 2 = 0.90) and a main effect of treatment in the DSC study (F (1,19) = 7.47, P = 0.01, ƞ 2 = 0.28), but no interaction effects (all P > 0.14).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We did not observe any comparable effects for the contrast [Partner > Familiar] and there were also no nonspecific main treatment effects across conditions (all P > 0.05).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“With houses as control stimuli in the DSC study ([Partner OXT > House OXT ] > [Partner PLC > House PLC ]), we found similar OXT effects as with unfamiliar women for the NAcc”
- Also stated in: § Results · plain
“For the VTA, no significant effect was detected”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Results · plain
In the paper
“In prairie voles, D2R activation in the NAcc facilitates a partner preference and bond formation in the absence of mating in both sexes (6)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [6] source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“and of AVP into the lateral septum of males (8).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [8] source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“whereas the direct injection of OXT into the NAcc (7) does so in females”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [7] source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Plasma OXT levels can be elevated by several attachment-related experiences, including partner hugs (20), social support (21), massages (22), or orgasms (23)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“double-blind, placebocontrolled, within-subject, pharmaco-functional MRI experiment”
- Also stated in: § emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy · plain
“counter balanced, double-blind, within-subject design experiment.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy · plain
In the paper
“Moreover, numerous studies have reported prosocial effects of OXT including increased social affiliation and attachment (17)(18)(19).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites (17)(18)(19)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
In the paper
“However, nonspecific intracerebroventricular administration of OXT can induce a partner preference and bonding in both males and females (10).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [10] source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“and there are also D2R-OXTR heteromers with facilitatory receptor-receptor interactions in the striatum (16).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [16] source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If the OXT effect on the VTA activation in response to the partner reflects a devaluation of other unfamiliar women the man has no social bond with, then this could explain why we did not find a similar response to other familiar women they do have a social bond with in the RPL study.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: fails — The authors may not put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Furthermore, reduced VTA activation in response to the faces of other women after OXT treatment indicates it could further contribute to long-term pair bonding by making interactions with other women less rewarding, although we found no corresponding behavioral support for this.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Recently, it has been suggested that the VTA is the human brain site where oxytocin acts to attach salience to socially relevant cues (39)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [39] source
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The mean relationship durations in the present study were 29 and 36 mo (DSC and RPL, respectively), indicating that the participants were in the second phase of their relationship in which the initial euphoria and excitation decline but the passion remains high.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Enhanced activation of the NAcc and VTA is likely to reflect an increased reward value of the female partner and suggests that OXT may affect these dopaminergic areas in the context of bonds in a similar manner to monogamous voles.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“and it is also likely that the comparison of the partner with an unfamiliar woman involves a larger salience difference than the contrast with a familiar one.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A claim is checked only against the cited paper’s full text, never its abstract, and none is available for its sources.
In the paper
“Intranasal administration of OXT increases ratings of facial attractiveness (27), positive communication behavior during couple conflicts (28)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Our results confirmed the hypothesis that OXT also contribute to romantic pair bonding in humans by showing that OXT treatment enhanced a positive bias in men to perceive their female partner's face as more attractive than that of other unfamiliar women, an effect paralleled by increased activation of reward neurocircuitry.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The photographs of other women were carefully matched for attractiveness, arousal, and picture quality with those of the partner in each case by using ratings obtained from a sample of 10 independent judges.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“but by choosing face stimuli matched for overall attractiveness, we avoided any nonspecific contribution from this.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Likewise, our results cannot be accounted for by nonspecific conscious effects of OXT because it did not affect state anxiety or mood ratings, and the subjects could not identify whether they had received OXT or PLC (Tables S4 and S5).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“To avoid ceiling effects and to limit cognitive processing, we asked our subjects to passively view the pictures.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > emotion | functional imaging | love | monogamy
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Facial attractiveness is known to elicit striatal activation (38)”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [38] source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Parameter estimates for each contrast were subjected to one-sample t tests on the second level for the whole brain with a significance threshold of P < 0.05 corrected for multiple comparisons .”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We ensured that no subject knew the woman whose photograph was used as his control stimulus.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The movement parameters were included as confounds in the design matrix.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The MRI data of the DSC and RPL study were acquired with the same system and scanning parameters.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the time intervals since they last saw their partners and had intimate contact were comparable between the OXT and PLC sessions, as well as between the DSC and RPL study (Table S1).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The selected photographs were equated for facial expression, size, and luminance.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“To assure attentive stimulus processing, subjects were asked to press a keypad button whenever a stimulus was presented (percent correct responses DSC: OXT 97.64 ± 7.49, PLC 95.90 ± 10.16; RPL: OXT 98.62 ± 3.19, PLC 98.62 ± 4.5; all P ≥ 0.33).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The sequence of the photographs was randomized.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In both the DSC and RPL studies, we applied a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, within-group design.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The Wake Forest University Pickatlas (Version 3.0) was used to generate 5-mm ROI masks for NAcc, VTA, caudate, and lentiform nucleus (SI Materials and Methods), and the threshold for significance was set at P < 0.05 and was FWE corrected for multiple comparisons based on the size of the ROI.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This notion suggests the intriguing possibility that OXT may serve as a potential treatment for love-related withdrawal syndromes, including lovesickness and pathological grief from loss of a loved one.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“an ANOVA with the factor group yielded no significant age difference between the DSC, RPL, or pilot samples, P = 0.38”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All houses were gray-scaled and equated for size and luminance.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For men in a relationship, increased endogenous OXT signaling in the brain following experience of proximity, social support, intimate contact, or sex with their romantic partner might make these behaviors even more rewarding via an engagement of related neurocircuitry.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Discussion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“To avoid confounding factors in the photographs, the backgrounds were masked in black, and the photographs were gray-scaled.”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The sequence of blocks was randomized”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper relies on this without support.
The neurobiological mechanisms underlying long-term pair bonds in humans are not well understood.
“The biological mechanisms underlying long-term partner bonds in humans are unclear.”
“as yet surprisingly little is known about the neurobiological underpinnings of long-term pair bonds (i.e., enduring attachments between sexual partners) in humans.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The role of oxytocin in human pair bonding has not been established.
“However, whether it plays a similar role in humans has as yet not been established.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Intranasal oxytocin at 24 IU reaches relevant brain oxytocin systems in men.
“after they received either intranasal OXT (24 IU) or placebo (PLC) treatment.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The sample of 20 heterosexual pair-bonded men is representative of pair-bonded men in general.
“20 heterosexual pair-bonded male volunteers”
“20 heterosexual pair-bonded men”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) is released during partner contact (Grewen, Girdler, Amico, & Light, 2005) and contributes to the maintenance of long-term relationships (Ditzen et al., 2009;Kreuder et al., 2017;Scheele et al., 2013).”
From Oxytocin enhances the pain‐relieving effects of social support in romantic couples (2019) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Here, we provide an overview of the roles of oxytocin, dopamine, and vasopressin in regulating neural circuits responsible for generating bonds in animals and humans alike.”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [18]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In one study, IN-OT caused men in monogamous relationships to rate their partner as more attractive than when given a placebo, but IN-OT did not increase the perceived attractiveness of other women.”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [18]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Importantly, OXT did not alter the positive bias for the familiar person (all Ps > 0.56, cf. Figure 1), suggesting that, in line with our previous findings in men (Scheele et al., 2013), OXT specifically influenced perception related to pair-bonding.”
From Hormonal contraceptives suppress oxytocin-induced brain reward responses to the partner’s face (2016) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Importantly, OXT did not alter the positive bias for the familiar person (all Ps > 0.56, cf. Figure 1), suggesting that, in line with our previous findings in men (Scheele et al., 2013), OXT specifically influenced perception related to pair-bonding.”
From Hormonal contraceptives suppress oxytocin-induced brain reward responses to the partner’s face (2016) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“In fact, a comparison of the OXT effects in women with our previous data obtained in men (Scheele et al., 2013) showed that the OXTinduced augmentation of partner-specific responses in the NAcc (left: À9, 2, 1, t (39) ¼ 3.22, P FWE ¼ 0.04 and À15, 11, À2, t (39) ¼ 3.19, P FWE ¼ 0.04; right: 18, 8, À2, t (39) ¼ 4.35, P FWE < 0.01) was significantly stronger in men than in women who used HC.”
From Hormonal contraceptives suppress oxytocin-induced brain reward responses to the partner’s face (2016) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“fMRI revealed that IN-OT in combination with viewing the partner enhanced activation of the NAc and VTA consistent with the hypothesis of pair bonding based on vole studies [18] (Figure 3b).”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [18]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Intranasal OXT administration has been investigated in the context of partner preference, revealing that it can enhance the attractiveness of the heterosexual men ' s partner and activate DA brain regions like the NAc and VTA (Scheele et al., 2013).”
From Convergence of oxytocin and dopamine signalling in neuronal circuits: Insights into the neurobiology of social interactions across species (2024) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“Animal24 and human studies25 indicate that similar neural systems and behavioral patterns underpin the parent-infant and pair bonds and demonstrate that both forms of human attachment are characterized by behavioral synchrony26–28.”
From Brain-to-Brain Synchrony during Naturalistic Social Interactions (2017) · cites this paper as [27]
In the citing paper
“In humans, intranasal OT administration to romantically attached males modulates BOLD responses in the NAc during viewing of a partner's face”
From Oxytocin receptors modulate a social salience neural network in male prairie voles (2017) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“intranasal OT administration in men caused them to increase the rating of their partners’ attractiveness in pictures as well as heightened NAc activation”
From Oxytocin and Social Relationships: From Attachment to Bond Disruption (2017) · cites this paper as Scheele et al. 2013
In the citing paper
“In humans, the NAc becomes activated in men viewing the face of their female partner, but not other women, a physiological effect that can be enhanced by intranasal OT”
From Oxytocin and Social Relationships: From Attachment to Bond Disruption (2017) · cites this paper as Scheele et al. 2013
In the citing paper
“Interestingly, OXT stimulates the activation of NAcc activity in men in monogamous relationships when viewing images of their partner (145).”
From Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Social Behavior: From Neural Circuits to Clinical Opportunities (2022) · cites this paper as [145]
In the citing paper
“In healthy pair-bonded men, OXT IN facilitated neural responses to the partner compared with unfamiliar women in the VTA and NAcc (Figure 2).”
From Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships (2016) · cites this paper as [92]
In the citing paper
“Similarly, in pair-bonded men, IN-OT enhances the perceived attractiveness of their female partners’ faces but not that of other equally attractive female faces [43]”
From Translational opportunities for circuit-based social neuroscience: advancing 21st century psychiatry (2021) · cites this paper as [43]
In the citing paper
“it increases the perceived attractiveness of one’s partner but not of other women78.”
From Social experience alters oxytocinergic modulation in the nucleus accumbens of female prairie voles (2022) · cites this paper as [78]
In the citing paper
“Largely as a result of the reported wide ranging prosocial effects of exogenous OXT administration (Eckstein and Hurlemann, 2013; Scheele et al, 2013; Striepens et al, 2011), the OXT system is considered to be a promising drug target for pharmacological treatment of the various symptoms of social impairment in ASD, including reduced interest in giving or receiving social touch.”
From An oxytocin-induced facilitation of neural and emotional responses to social touch correlates inversely with autism traits (2014) · cites this paper as Scheele et al, 2013
In the citing paper
“IN-OT increases the rating of attractiveness of partners’ faces (Scheele et al. 2013), reduces conflict between couples (Ditzen et al. 2009), and enhances the distance between pair bonded men and unfamiliar attractive individuals (Scheele et al. 2012).”
From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Scheele et al. 2013
In the citing paper
“Scheele et al. (2013) showed that IN-OT increases the activity of VTA and NAcc in response to a partner compared to unfamiliar individuals (Scheele et al. 2013).”
From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Scheele et al. 2013
In the citing paper
“In humans, males treated with OT perceived their pair-mates face as more attractive than the face of an opposite-sex stranger, and experienced increased neural activity in the branches of the brain’s reward system (i.e., nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area; Scheele et al., 2013).”
From Oxytocin facilitates fidelity in well-established marmoset pairs by reducing sociosexual behavior toward opposite-sex strangers (2014) · cites this paper as Scheele et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“Key among the molecular substrates of social group living and monogamous pair bonds in humans is the hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) (Scheele et al, 2012(Scheele et al, , 2013)).”
From Oxytocin Facilitates Pavlovian Fear Learning in Males (2016) · cites this paper as Scheele et al, 2013
Statistics recomputed
Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.
- ConsistentF(1, 19) = 120.96reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“F (1,19) = 120.96,p < .01”
- ConsistentF(2, 18) = 61.61reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“F (2,18) = 61.61,p < .01”
- ConsistentF(1, 19) = 7reported p = .02 · recomputed p = .016
“F (1,19) = 7.00, p = .02”
- ConsistentF(2, 18) = 2.82reported p = .086 · recomputed p = .086
“F (2,18) = 2.82, p = .086”
- ConsistentF(1, 19) = 74.96reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“F (1,19) = 74.96,p < .01”
- ConsistentF(2, 18) = 84.47reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“F (2,18) = 84.47,p < .01”
- ConsistentF(1, 19) = 7.47reported p = .01 · recomputed p = .013
“F (1,19) = 7.47, p = .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 12.11reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 12.11, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 9.52reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 9.52, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 10.92reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 10.92,p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 9.68reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 9.68, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 11.03reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 11.03,p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 6.57reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 6.57,p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 12.21reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 12.21, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 8.87reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 8.87, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 8.12reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 8.12, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 9.3reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 9.30, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 5.63reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 5.63, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 5.79reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 5.79, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 4.44reported p < .01 · recomputed p < .001
“t (19) = 4.44, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 3.19reported p < .01 · recomputed p = .005
“t (19) = 3.19, p < .01”
- Consistentt(19) = 2.65reported p = .02 · recomputed p = .016
“t (19) = 2.65, p = .02”
- Consistentt(19) = 2.32reported p = .03 · recomputed p = .032
“t (19) = 2.32, p = .03”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
“This finding was replicated bilaterally in the NAcc (Fig. 2B) and unilaterally in the right VTA (Fig. 3B; RPL study).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
“RPL: left peak MNI coordinates -9, 5, 1; t (152) = 2.40, P FWE = 0.052; right peak MNI coordinates 12, 2, 1; t (152) = 2.48, P FWE = 0.04”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Results
“we found enhanced responsiveness for the contrast [Partner OXT > Unfamiliar OXT ] > [Partner PLC > Unfamiliar PLC ] bilaterally in the NAcc (Fig. 2A) and VTA (Fig. 3A) (P FWE < 0.05; DSC study).”
§ Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner > Materials and Methods
“DSC: left peak MNI coordinates -6, -10, -5; t (114) = 2.56, P FWE = 0.03; right peak MNI coordinates 0, -10, -5; t (114) = 2.33, P FWE = 0.051”
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“For instance, oxytocin increases male reward linked to the sight of the female partner’s face [93] and is strongly active in the regulation of interactive reciprocity in the early phases of couple formation [94].”
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“Furthermore, recent research establishes the utility of the use of oxytocin, associated with attachment and love (Scheele et al., 2013), in the treatment of drug addiction (McGregor & Bowen, 2012; Pedersen, 2014).”
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“…the processing of positive social stimuli, resulting in heightened pleasantness and neural responses in the reward-related regions, including the nucleus accumbens, caudate, mid-brain, and orbital frontal cortex (Rilling and others 2012; Scheele and others 2013; Scheele, Kendrick, and others 2014).”
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Neuroimaging genetics of oxytocin: A transcriptomics-informed systematic review
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“These herein partially-supported theories include hypotheses that OT enhances the salience of social stimuli (Shamay-Tsoory and Abu-Akel, 2016) (i.e the Social Salience Hypothesis of OT) and increase the reward value of affiliative interactions (Scheele et al., 2013).”
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“Oxytocin interacting with dopamine has been suggested to contribute to the formation and maintenance of social bonds in animals (Bosch and Young, 2018) and in humans for instance via a positive evaluation of the own relationship (Scheele et al., 2013; Aguilar-Raab et al., 2019).”
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“Dopamine and oxytocin have been associated with network-level modulation of striatal circuits and reward processing across natural and monetary reward domains (53,89,90) and in interaction with the respective stimuli may shape context-dependent reward dysregulations in depression.”
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Walle, K. M., Sartorius, A. M., Deilhaug, E., Kang, H., Nærland, T., Andreassen, O. A., Westlye, L. T., & Quintana, D. S. (2026) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106628 · Cited by 10
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“Alternatively, OT release may be associated with a reward system which may also influence future behaviours [21], [22].”
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“study showed that menwho received the OT hormone through intranasal administration experienced L VTA activation in response to seeing their partner’s image (Scheele et al., 2013).”
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“, 2012), and increases activity in the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway when viewing pictures of a current romantic partner (Scheele et al., 2013).”
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“Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have revealed oxytocin-induced changes in connectivity between brain regions involved in social cognition, emotion regulation, and reward processing [28,29,30].”
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“It also affects the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, reinforcing the bond between mates (56).”
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“Oxytocin could affect various brain regions involved in pain perception and modulation, such as the periaqueductal gray (PAG) [24,25] and reward areas such as the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area [25–27], reinforcing a positive expectation of pain relief.”
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“The initiation of oxytocin-dependent mechanisms requires the binding of the oxytocin ligand to the anoxytocin receptor, leading to the activation of signaling pathways which determine the outcome of oxytocin receptor activation [164,308].”
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“This can be attributed to the influence of the oxytocin system on neural areas or circuitries related to reward (Scheele et al., 2013) and emotional processing, such as fear processing (Meyer-Lindenberg et al.”
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“Administration of OT to men enhanced their perceived attractiveness of their female partner, but not of unfamiliar or familiar females, thus reinforcing the idea that OT is important specifically for romantic attachments (Scheele et al., 2013).”
BackgroundSocial Scaffolding of Vocal and Language Development
Doi, H. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-15-4250-3_6 · Cited by 4
Numan, M. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0008 · Cited by 2
Hormonal Control of Maternal Behavior in Nonhuman Mammals
Numan, M. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0003 · Cited by 2
Sex- and Context-dependent Effects of Oxytocin on Social Reward ProcessingPreprint
Ma, X.-L., Zhao, W.-H., Luo, R., Zhou, F., Geng, Y., Xu, L., Gao, Z., Zheng, X.-X., Becker, B., & Kendrick, K. (2018) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/274027 · Cited by 1
Self-citationXu, X., Liu, C., Zhou, X., et al. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/501171 · Cited by 2
Self-citationBody Maps of LovesPreprint
Rinne, P., Tavast, M., Glerean, E., et al. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/p5mbg · Cited by 2
Quintana, D. S. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/48ayg · Cited by 2
“, 2014), responding (Eliava et al., 2016; Scheele et al., 2013), learning (Beets et al.”
Adapting to loss: A normative account of griefPreprint
Dulberg, Z., Dubey, R., & Cohen, J. D. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.02.06.578702 · Cited by 2
“…are also consistent with neurobiological evidence that individuals with PGD have higher reward-related neural activity compared to typical grievers (O’Connor et al., 2008), as well as higher levels of oxytocin (Bui et al., 2019), which is known to increase attachment rewards (Scheele et al., 2013).”
ResultEndogenous oxytocin-linked heart rate synchrony for social connection in live sports spectatorsPreprint
Matsui, T., Yamaguchi, T. N., Funabashi, D., Takahashi, S., Matsuoka, H., Dobashi, S., Kigoshi, K., Yamada, S., & Takagi, H. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.09.15.676321 · Cited by 2
Numan, M. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0002 · Cited by 1
Chuang, J.-Y. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.572654 · Cited by 1
“In humans, two studies have shown that intranasal oxytocin administration stimulates men in a monogamous relationship to perceive their partners’ faces as more attractive than other female strangers (11) and to keep a much greater distance between themselves and attractive women (12).”
BackgroundThe Neural and Genetic Basis of Romantic Love
Acevedo, B. P., Bartels, A., Sainz‐Ballesteros, A., & Grassi, P. R. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-76665-7_63-1 · Cited by 1
Liu, W., Li, J., Chen, Z., Zhao, Q., & Sun, X. (2026) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2529865123 · Cited by 1
“Previous findings from acute oxytocin administration using face stimuli also point to its specific role in male–female interactions: oxytocin modulates social distance between males and females (26) and enhances reward - related brain responses in men viewing their female partner’s face (27 ).”
Kroll, C., Schruers, K. R. J., Viechtbauer, W., Vingerhoets, C., Seidel, L., Riedl, A. M., & Hernaus, D. (2026) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2026.03.006 · Cited by 1
Die Neurobiologie und ihre Implikationen für die Sexualtherapie
Krüger, T. H. C. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-54415-0_4 · Cited by 1
Oxytocin shapes the priorities and neural representations of attitudes and values
Hurlemann, R., Marsh, N., Schultz, J., & Scheele, D. (2017) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x16000807 · Cited by 1
Self-citationMueller, C., Spindler, M., Caspers, S., & Hurlemann, R. (2021) · Masterclass in neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-86630-3_2 · Cited by 1
Self-citationConstant Romantic Feelings and Experiences Can Protect Against Neurodegeneration
Gholami, M., Emanuele, E., & Motaghinejad, M. (2023) · Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Journal (BBRJ) · doi:10.4103/bbrj.bbrj_28_23 · Cited by 1
Regulation of Oxytocin on Empathy and Its Neural Mechanism
Yue, G. (2023) · IntechOpen eBooks · doi:10.5772/intechopen.112743 · Cited by 1
Oxytocin’s role in the interaction between emotion and cognitive control
Ganzel, A. R., Shalev, H., Hochman, S., Zultan, R., Cohen, N., & Naparstek, S. (2025) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109004 · Cited by 2
Neuropsychologie der Bedürfnisse
Markowitsch, H. J., & Schreier, M. M. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-58265-7_4 · Cited by 1
Numan, M. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0001 · Cited by 1
Central Neural Circuits Regulating Maternal Behavior in Nonhuman Mammals
Numan, M. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0005 · Cited by 1
Alloparental Behavior and Paternal Behavior in Nonhuman Mammals
Numan, M. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0007 · Cited by 1
Neuromodulatorische Einflüsse auf das Wohlbefinden: Dopamin und Oxytocin
Kirsch, P., & Gruppe, H. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-53471-7_21 · Cited by 1
What’s in a Face? Sources of Variation in Human Facial Attractiveness
Welling, L. L. M. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-82884-3_7 · Cited by 1
Nowicki, J. P., Pratchett, M. S., Walker, S. P. W., Coker, D. J., & O’Connell, L. A. (2017) · King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Repository (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) · doi:10.1101/214759 · Cited by 1
Social experience alters oxytocinergic modulation in the nucleus accumbens of female prairie volesPreprint
Borie, A. M., Agezo, S., Lunsford, P., et al. (2021) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2021.07.06.451323 · Cited by 1
Oxytocin modulates social brain network correlations in resting and task statePreprint
Wu, Q., Huang, Q., Liu, C., et al. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2021.12.30.474596 · Cited by 1
“…years, researchers have gradually realized that the patterns of brain activity exhibited by individuals at rest could be a critical scaffold for people to perform behaviorally relevant tasks (Pang et al., 2022; Pezzulo et al., 2021; Reineberg et al., 2015; Shine et al., 2019; Tavor et al., 2016).”
BackgroundBode, A., & Kowal, M. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/tezpu · Cited by 1
Pedrinelli, V., Rimoldi, B., Conti, L., Bordacchini, A., Parrini, L., Betti, L., Giannaccini, G., Dell’Oste, V., & Carmassi, C. (2025) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms262411835 · Cited by 4
“Furthermore, reward-related signaling is closely associated with attachment behaviors mediated by oxytocin (OT), a key neuropeptide hormone in modulating social and affective affiliation [23,24].”
Die Bedeutung von Körperkontakt und Körperkontaktstörungen
Jansen, F., & Streit, U. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-41118-2_2
Neuroetica e neuroscienza: tra spiegazione della vita e cura della mente
Lavazza, A., & De, M. (2013) · Rivista internazionale di filosofia e psicologia · doi:10.4453/rifp.2013.0026
The genetic background of oxytocin and its importance for maternal behaviour of sows
Engström, F. (2014) · Epsilon Archive for Student Projects (University of Southampton)
Young, L. J., & Zingg, H. H. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-803592-4.00056-0
Innovative pharmakologische Strategien gegen Angststörungen
Kiebs, M., & Hurlemann, R. (2018) · NeuroTransmitter · doi:10.1007/s15016-018-6296-x
Self-citationZhang, X., Hang, Y. I. N., Peng, L. I., & Li, H. (2018) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2018.01438
Characterising variations in perceptual decision making
Schultz, J., & Hurlemann, R. (2018) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x18001371
Self-citationRomantic Love Redoux: Rethinking Romantic Love and Drug Addiction
Roberts, T. W., & Roberts, K. A. (2019)
Metadata
- Authors
- Scheele, D., Wille, A., Kendrick, K. M., Stoffel-Wagner, B., Becker, B., Güntürkün, O., Maier, W., & Hurlemann, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Departments of aPsychiatry,
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany;
- Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2013-11-25
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 50
- Pages
- 20308-20313
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3864312
- OpenAlex
- W2011152932
- Cited by
- 340
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 11.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Universitätsbibliographie, Universität Duisburg-Essen (submittedVersion)
- DZNE Pub (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HU1302/2-2)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (91132720)
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- oxytocin, romantic attachment, facial attractiveness, brain reward system, dopamine, ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, intranasal oxytocin, familiarity
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Face, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Love, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nucleus Accumbens, Oxytocin, Reward, Sexual Partners, Ventral Tegmental Area, Recognition, Psychology
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