Close Encounters with Oxytocin

Oxytocin, commonly known as the ‘love hormone’, plays an important role in sexuality, childbirth and lactation as well as bonding behaviour and general well-being. It is also released through touch and during bodywork sessions such as massage.

Research into oxytocin is still ongoing as many of its aspects are still only partially scientifically explicable. Prof. Sue Carter, US based biologist and behavioural neurbiologist, has been working in the field of oxytocin for decades. More recently she has been examining the role of oxytocin and vasopressin in mental disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, anxiety and depression.