A new study reveals how pleasant touch fosters social bonds between humans and rats by activating oxytocin signaling in the brain.

"To our surprise, these animals that were completely lacking oxytocin receptor showed, for all intents and purposes, perfectly normal social attachment behaviours," Shah said.

Pleasant tactile stimulation drives social bonding in many animal species, especially mammals. Tactile stimulation forms the basis of the infant-caregiver relationship and often leads to affinity-like ...

However, high levels of oxytocin could, I theorize, lead to overinterpretation of emotional cues in social interactions. If you’re already prone to social anxiousness, increasing your ...

This suggests that oxytocin may trigger insulin production through a separate, receptor-dependent pathway involving the hormone GLP-1. "WT mice showed a significant increase in insulin levels at ...

But selection can also act on the genes that code for receptors (in the case of the androgen receptor, the number of glutamine units specified inversely determines sensitivity to testosterone ...

The dogs performed this behavioral test twice, once after receiving a dose of oxytocin nasal spray, and once after receiving a dose of neutral saline nasal spray. The team timed the dogs to see ...

Less well-known is that oxytocin can also affect pain perception. When the peptide hormone oxytocin binds to these receptors, it triggers a signal that reduces pain signals in the gut.