Hug the Monkey

2008-11-18T06:07:00-08:00

Motrin got into hot water with mommy bloggers for a commercial that tried to take a lighter look at one of the acknowledged perils of caring for children: They get heavier and heavier to carry.

First, watch the commercial.

The tone made me uncomfortable, because it sounded like the mom doing the voiceover didn't take mommying that seriously. The voiceover talks about "baby-wearing" as a fashion, and then she says, "Supposedly, it's a real bonding experience."

Um, yes, it is. I know in our society the idea that bonding is something that has to be, well, nurtured hasn't taken hold yet. And anyone is allowed to get pregnant and bring a new life into the world without any prep at all. But still.

As cszamu wrote,

... yes, in its cutesyness and its attempt to sound hip, the ad missed the mark. It managed to sound both patronizing and critical of a childrearing philosophy that women feel passionate about (namely, babywearing).

Obviously, the ad passed muster with internal execs at McNeill Consumer Healthcare, maker of Motrin, including its VP of marketing, who is herself the mother of a three-year-old, according to Lisa Belkin of the NY Times. And the ad agency, too.

I'm glad the mommy bloggers are standing up for informed mothers who are passionate about bonding.

Turning Mares into Foster-Mares

2008-11-17T06:17:00-08:00

Walnut Hills Farm, a horse breeding operation in Kentucky is using oxytocin to connect foals with foster-mothers while their real mothers are being bred elsewhere.

Not only can unbred mares that have previously had at least one foal be persuaded with medication to produce milk, but the procedure also seems to stimulate maternal behavior, greatly simplifying the tricky process of getting a nurse mare to adopt an orphan foal. For an operation like Walnut Hall, which uses nurse mares routinely, it was a revolutionary idea.

It's nice that they are using rescued horses as the foster mothers, "giving them a new lease on life," as the article in TheHorse.com says.

But, hold on a minute, this doesn't mean that we can necessarily improve the attachment of moms and babies with oxytocin. It's more complicated than that. After all, in hospital births, women are routinely given a large amount of pitocin, an oxytocin analog. And if anything, it seems to inhibit the natural attachment process.

See The Mother/Baby Attachment Gap for more on this.

The Chemistry of Connection Book Cover

2008-11-14T06:43:00-08:00

It's been a really long time coming, and the book has evolved a lot in the four years I've been working on it. It's finally getting close, and here is its first, almost-physical manifestation: the cover. I had no input on it, but my publisher, New Harbinger, says it got a great response from major chain buyers!

A Broken Heart Could Turn Off the Oxytocin Response

2008-11-12T07:07:08-08:00

Some people feel really uncomfortable hearing that neurochemicals, including oxytocin, dopamine and vasopressin, are responsible for some of our most profound emotions. Of course, it's not that simple.

Do neurochemicals create emotions? Or are they just one part of a symphony of events, thoughts and physiological events?

A study by scientists at NYU and Rutgers found that we can consciously

According to Science Daily, NYU professor Elizabeth Phelps, Rutgers professor Mauricio Delgado and NYU grad student M. Meredith Gillis, wanted to understand "emotional regulation strategies" related to expecting a reward. Emotional regulation is the process, conscious or unconscious, of holding our emotions in check. You could call it self-control.

They found that people could easily "turn off" their sense of anticipation of a reward.

The results showed that the participants' emotion regulation strategies could influence physiological and neural responses relevant to the expectation of reward. Specifically, results from the [skin conductance responses] revealed that the subjects' emotion regulation strategies decreased arousal that was linked to the anticipation of a potential reward.

"Our findings demonstrated that emotion regulation strategies can successfully curb physiological and neural responses associated with the expectation of reward," said Delgado.

The researchers want to know how thoughts can curb urges, particularly cravings for addictive drugs.

But how many of us have learned to turn off our expectations for love or happiness? It's natural after a bad breakup to say, "I'll never love again." This research shows that this thought can become self-fulfilling. If we don't expect connection or love, we don't see it when it comes again. Or, we enter the relationship with a defeatist attitude that's unrewarding for us and for our new lover.

Taking it down to the neurochemical level, when that oxytocin feeling comes, we can shut it down without realizing it.

But I think this study also shows that we can do the opposite. It's really really hard, but if we can tell ourselves that we can love again -- or love for the first time some day -- we can make it happen.

Could Oxytocin Have Prevented Our Economic Meltdown?

2008-11-07T06:38:00-08:00

Bad decisions by bad-boy stock traders. There's plenty of blame to go around for the sorry state of the U.S. economy and financial markets, but people don't often put together the overwhelmingly maleness of Wall Street traders with the testosterone-fueled desire for risk-taking and challenge.

Except for John M. Coates, a research fellow in neuroscience and finance at Cambridge and a former Wall Street trader. I guess that places him in the "neuroeconomics" category. He has a fascinating theory about why males seem

According to this article, stock traders may be the victims of the "winning effect."

When two predators battle it out, the winner emerges with increased testosterone levels; the loser with diminished testosterone.

Fuelled on powerful steroids, the predator picks another fight. He wins again, feels elated and goes after an even stronger opponent. After a few victories, he starts to get sloppy, overconfident and cocky. "Animals continue having successful rounds of winning until they take stupid risks," says Dr Coates.

This next part goes in the "too good to check" file. According to the article, by Helen Kirwan-Taylor, when Coates gave 17 London stock traders oxytocin, however, they became calmer and less likely to do something dumb.

It sure makes sense, and I sure wish it was true. But Dr. Coates told me via email that this detail is false. Can someone please do this study? Please?

This article from the Why Files provides more color. And here's a link to the abstract of his study:
Endogenous steroids and financial risk taking on a London trading floor, John M. Coates and J. Herbert, PNAS, Apr. 22, 2008

Even a Simple Handshake ...

2008-11-05T05:27:00-08:00

I'm really honored to have published an op-ed with Paul Zak!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-j-zak/the-power-of-a-handshake_b_129441.html

Does Cybersex Produce Oxytocin?

2008-11-04T11:17:04-08:00

Web Pro News pointed to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald reporting on a study which found that high levels of anxiety and depression among men who frequented sexy sites online. Study author Marcus Squirrell, a doctoral student at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

According to the newspaper article,

"We found that 27 per cent of them were moderate to severely depressed on the standard depression scales," Mr. Squirrell said.

"Thirty per cent had high levels of anxiety and 35 per cent were moderately to severely stressed, which is of course extremely high."

The more heavily they engaged in online sexual activity the higher their level of depression and anxiety was, he said.

Jason Lee Miller of Web Pro News raises two interesting questions: First, does cybersex cause depression or are heavy indulgers already depressed and trying to relieve their anxiety or depression? Second,

Something else simulated or cybersex lacks, which deserves more study as to the effect on depression and anxiety, is the release of oxytocin, a hormone released during labor, but also is generated by physical touch as a bonding chemical between mothers and infants during breastfeeding, and also between lovers.

Actually, it looks like masturbation causes the same oxytocin release as does partner sex, according to a 1999 study.

See my comment on Jason's post for more.

Massage Mellows Marriage

2008-11-02T09:23:20-08:00

I'm trying to catch up with the flood of oxytocin news in the past few months. This USA Today article discusses research at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.

The study of young married couples began with some training on ways to increase closeness, but mostly, it studied the young-marrieds in their natural habitats.

Twenty couples, all married at least six months, participated in a four-week intervention that promoted emotional and physical closeness. They were brought into the lab for training and testing, but the bulk of their actions were at home, including a 30-minute massage (neck, shoulder or forehead) three times a week.

The study found that massage and other kinds of loving touch reduced blood pressure and cortisol, especially among men, while raising oxytocin levels. At last, scientific proof that it's good to be nice to your spouse.

Physical Warmth Translates to the Emotional

2008-10-24T20:07:54-07:00

This doesn't make intuitive sense, but Colorado University at Boulder Assistant Professor Lawrence E. Williams has found that simply handling a hot cup of coffee can change one's attitude toward a stranger.

People who had held a hot cup of coffee had a more positive impression of a person they read about than those who had held a cold drink.

"Experiences of physical temperature per se affect one's impressions of and pro-social behavior toward other people, without one's awareness of such influences," said Williams. "At a board meeting, for instance, being willing to reach out and touch another human being, to shake their hand, those experiences do matter although we may not always be aware of them. In a restaurant, it's been shown that wait staff who touch customers usually get a better tip. It's a nice gesture, but it also has a warming effect."

Of course, touch also can evoke the oxytocin response. I wonder if heat does, as well?

University of Colorado at Boulder (2008, October 23). Physical And Interpersonal Warmth Linked. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 24, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/10/081023144059.htm

Williams is a marketing professor, not a psychologist. But it seems that touching someone -- offering physical warmth -- is a good way to make a positive connection.

Sex Before Presentations

2008-10-20T10:35:54-07:00

Here's a fun short article on a good way to reduce your fear of public speaking. Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, the doctor-authors of the YOU: The Owner's Manual series, recommend having sex before a stressful event. This, of course, releases oxytocin.

Ducking into the bathroom at the conference with a significant other probably wouldn't be a great idea; but, if you didn't have too much performance anxiety of the sexual kind, you might ... um... how shall I say this politely? You might self-pleasure to get the same benefit.