Maternal behavior oxytocin

Because oxytocin is a uniquely mammalian hormone with a critical role in both birth and lactation, it was an obvious candidate for involvement in maternal behavior. In fact oxytocin has been termed the hormone of mother love (Klopfer, 1971 Newton, 1973). As mentioned above, animal research offers support for this hypothesis (Pedersen, 1996). However, evidence implicating oxytocin in human behavior only recently has begun to accumulate, and direct evidence for a behavioral effect of oxytocin in humans remains to be demonstrated. 

Various autonomic, physiological and behavioral effects of oxytocin could contribute to the development and expression of maternal behavior (Uvnas-Moberg, 1996). Para-... 

Pedersen, C. A. 1996. Oxytocin control of maternal behavior Regulation by sex steroids and offspring stimuli. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, in press. 

Pedersen, C. A. and Prange, A. J, Jr. 1979. Induction of maternal behavior in virgin rats after intracerebroventricu-lar administration of oxytocin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 76 6661-6665. 

Genital stimulation during parturition stimulates many aspects of maternal behavior, including attraction to amniotic fluid and forming a selective bond with an alien lamb. This is possibly mediated by stimulation of oxytocin release, and/or activation of afferent noradrenergic pathways in the olfactory bulbs (Poindron etal, 1988). 

Pedersen, C.A., Ascher, J.A., Monroe, Y.L., and Prange, A.J., Jr. (1982) Oxytocin induces maternal behavior in virgin female rats. Science 216 648-650. 

Oxytocin in a nine amino acid peptide that is synthesized in hypothalamic neurons and transported down through axons of the posterior pituitary for secretion into blood. Oxytocin has three major physiological effects stimulation of miUc ejection, stimulation of uterine smooth muscle contraction at birth, and establishment of maternal behavior. 

Oxytocin typically has a facilitative effect on affiliative behaviors (Witt et ah, 1992), including parental and reproductive behaviors and infant-mother attachment. Oxytocin facilitates social memory, with knockout mice displaying social memory deficits it facilitates conditioning to maternal-related olfactory cues (Nelson and Panksepp, 1996). 

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