Find out how oxytocin hormone controls sexual behavior

A small group of neurons reacts to the "love hormone" oxytocin that plays a key role in controlling sexual behavior in organisms, according to a new study.

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American researchers have drawn this conclusion through experiments on mice. They found that nerve cells responding to oxytocin in the prefrontal cortex had a decisive effect on the sexual activity of experimental animals.

Oxytocin "love Hormone" has long been recognized as important for many intimate emotional relationships. Without it, the female mouse will no longer feel more attractive than a Lego block.

According to a study report in Cell magazine, when inhibiting oxytocin and disabling neurons that respond to it, female mice will lose interest in mating in estrus - the period of female mice Active sexual activity. At other times in the cycle, they react to male rats by normal herd behavior.

Research co-author Nathaniel Heintz from Rockefeller University (New York, USA) said the discovery "is quite interesting because only a small group of cells has such a clear impact".

Heintz added that, to disable nerve cells, the team used toxins to prevent them from transmitting signals to other nerve cells - a technology that created the revolution. recently on the ability to study small groups of nerve cells.

" These connections can exist similarly in other species, including humans, so understanding them in mice can help us understand why oxytocin is so influential in humans , " said Dr. Heintz. emphasize.

Heintz and colleagues also found that cells in female mice reacted to hormone oxytocin stronger than equivalent cells in male mice.

According to Gareth Leng, a professor of experimental physiology at the University of Edinburgh (UK), who is not involved in the study, the work of American scientists is remarkable and adds to our understanding of oxytocin receptors, which are located in many parts of the brain, support social and community interactions. The expert commented, "love hormones" seem to be able to change the way certain nerve cell groups talk to each other, reconnecting nerve circuits.

New research has provided further evidence that oxytocin has very extensive activity in many different brain regions. Because of this, it seems not only to act as a normal neurotransmitter, but also very much like a hormone inside the brain.

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