Reply With QuoteI used to wonder if the pheromones
from a mother's nipple caused the spike in the baby. Not sure, but my own uneducated suspicion is that it may be
responsible.
Alright a general research
question, I've read that babies that are nursing on their mothers breast trigger oxytocin response in women. Also
the babies themselves relase oxytocin in response. Is that internal release or what??
I used to wonder if the pheromones
from a mother's nipple caused the spike in the baby. Not sure, but my own uneducated suspicion is that it may be
responsible.
YesOriginally Posted by Icehawk
the release of oxytocin in the mothers is an internal release. Its major function in that example is to further
stimulate more milk production by the mother. Think of it as a positive feedback system. Its just like bovine...as
long as a cow is regularly milked she will produce more (calk or no calf), but if you stopping milking her...after a
while she'll dry up.
Yea, but the question is, what causes
the spike in the baby?
Not certain as to the cause of
that. Ill see if I can find it somewhere for you, but there is always the possibility that it is just the result of
an increase in the mothers oxytocin levels....more than just milk comes out of the breast (anti-bodies, etc) so
maybe that particular hormone is just there as a by product of the mother simply having more in her system.
More oxytocin in blood = more oxytocin in milk = more oxytocin in baby? I dunno might be the cause though.
Good theory. Could be the
case.
Interestingly enough, doesn't the father's oxytocin level's spike when she is in labor too (at which
time she has a spike). He ain't drinking anything.
Would perhaps point to pheromones.
or conditioning
Ok, so after doing some
research I think I know what the actual relationship is. Turns out that oxytocin (in men and women) is what can be
called a "touch" hormone. This is becuase it is released as a result of physical contact. Granted during childbirth
it can help stimulate contractions and after birth it stimulates milk production. If you look at one method
mid-wives use to help along a women who is in a "stalled" labor, they actually apply ice to the women's nipples and
it is the sensation that causes that woman's brain to increase its production of oxytocin which in turn helps
increase contractions (also a reason some doctor's give injections of oxytocin to help promote labor).
Now
oxytocin also has uses that are not directly related to childbirth. Some of these include the natural bonding and
some of what we would consider feelings of love between 2 people. This is becuase yet again of physical contact. The
cause of the "afterglow" feeling a couple experience after sexual intercourse is a result in an increased level of
oxytocin in both partners; however, the ability of oxytocin to do its work its directly related to the level of
estrogen present in that person. This is why females are much more affected by oxytocin levels than men.
Humans
are a very touching species. Infants and children who do not receive enough physical contact often grow up to become
socially retarted and anti-social, because oxytocin (a result of touching) helps foster and promote certain
connections in the brain. Another effect of oxytocin is that it slightly impairs certain mental functions such as
memmory building. This has been hypothesized as a reason that "hugging/kissing" to make up after a fight is
beneficial because it causes both people to somewhat forget the pain they just went through.
Back to what I
said about this early with regard to a positive feedback system, it is. This goes for both breast-feeding and other
forms of contact. The most sensitive areas of the body to touch cause the most oxytocin production (the
genitals/nipples for example). The way this appears to work is that a physical contact stimulates production of
oxytocin. The presence of oxytocin promotes the desire to be touched (socially and/or sexually). This is one reason
many women ( I say women because as aforementioned women are more affected by this hormone than men) who do not have
a lot of physical contact (using sex as an example) tend to not want to have sex; whereas, women who have sex tend
to want to have more sex. Also having sex even if the desire is somewhat lacking (read: libido) has been shown to
actually increase the desire to have sex( read: increasing libido).
The amount that oxytocin affects women also
varies according to the time of the month (this can be said about almost all hormones as well), because the levels
of estrogen and oxytocin are much higher during ovulation than during menstration. This means that when a woman is
ovulating a small touch can stimulate a large response, but during menstration it would take a much larger touch to
even stimulate a smaller response.
Another major point to be considered is that oxytocin can be involved in
triggered responses. This means that after a couple of very physically interactive meetings between the same 2
people then after that the mere sight of that person (female seeing the male and to a lesser extent male seeing
female) causes that person's body to increase oxytocin production prior to any physical contact--this also
increases that person's desire to be touched.
IceHawk, I hope this helps clear up any confusion or doubts
about oxytocin.
As far as I can tell this can be summed up by:
More touching = more oxytocin = more desire to
be touched
In the breast feeding example: oxytocin causes some milk production by mother = baby breast feeding (ie
great touching of the mothers nipple) = an increased production rate of oxytocin = an increased production of breast
milk AND an increased desire to be touched
Also during child birth generally speaking a lot of physical contact
between mother and father happens (holding hands) and this combined with a conditioned response that is obviously
present (read: pregnancy) causes a similar increase in the oxytocin's level in the father.
Another example of
this is a dating analogy: 2 people go on a few dates...
After the first date both are like "ok that was fun"
After another couple of dates (with presumably more physical contact) both are like "ok wow that was fun...he/she
has potential"
After a date that ended in sexual intercourse both tend to be like "I can't stop thinking about my
partner" <- being with the partner has become a conditioned response in which just thinking about the other person
stimulates the good feelings and the oxytocin production that they are associated with. Of course this example isnt
necessairly the same when considering one night stands. Since it takes more than a single instance to develop any
conditioned response.
As for the last thing, orgasims cause
an oxytocin spike, which is why JVK says get your woman off or she will go elsewhere.
But as for the touch
hormone, yea, that's what it is, but we still don't know how that happens.
It could be conditioned because
when a baby is getting the oxytocin response during breast feeding, he or she is in contact with his mothers skin
and also being held/touched. Not everyone was breastfed but most babies were held near their mothers nipple.
Babies who haven't been touched enough in early childhood has problems as adults being touched, perhaps because
they never "learn" the oxytocin touch response.
The actually root cause of the oxytocin touch response may be
an oxytocin response from breathing in pheromones from a mother's nipples, thus developing into a conditioned touch
response because you are being held when the spike occurs as a baby. When the touch response is learned, you then
can developed conditioned visual responses to particular people who hold you/touch you a lot, as was
mentioned.
So basically, we still don't know how the spike occurrs in the baby and whether pheromones and
involved. Uness someone can explain it through nerves and all that stuff and being touched on the skin and how that
relates to hormone production.
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