It is called “the hormone of love”, and if some lack it, it is not necessarily that they are insensitive. But oxytocin is important for psychological well-being, and low levels of this hormone influence behavior by inhibiting empathy. This is suggested by a study presented at the Annual Conference of the Society of Endocrinologyin Brighton, UK.
Surgery can disrupt oxytocin production
Oxytocin is involved in many human behaviors (sexual desire, recognition, trust, anxiety, mother-child bond…). Produced in the hippocampus (part of the brain involved in particular in memory), oxytocin is then “stored” in another part of the brain, the pituitary gland. Thus, a “deficiency” in oxytocin can have several causes, including psychological disorders, but also because of certain surgical treatments as is the case of patients who must undergo pituitary surgery following a tumor or cancer. , for example. In these cases, there is a decrease in the production of hormones (pituitary insufficiency). In people with neurogenic diabetes insipidus (DIN), another hormone close to oxytocin is lacking in the pituitary gland.
Less oxytocin, less empathy?
To assess the role of oxytocin in social relationships, researchers at Cardiff University in the UK recruited 15 people with pituitary insufficiency and 20 with DIN, as well as a control group of twenty healthy people. The participants then performed two “empathy tasks,” which focused on recognizing facial emotions. The first two groups, which have lower levels of oxytocin, did less well on the empathy tasks. According to the researchers, the ability to recognize emotions could be predicted by the measured oxytocin level. These results suggest that attention should be paid to the consequences for the psychological balance of patients of a low level of oxytocin. However, the authors point out that these preliminary results still need to be supported by other work on a larger number of subjects.
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