“Love” Hormone is Not Ready for Prime Time

Many studies have shown that oxytocin has prosocial effects in animals, and recent studies in humans have shown that acute administration has beneficial effects (increased social affiliation in volunteers, improved sensitivity to social cues in individuals with autism spectrum disorders, and reductions in emotional overreactivity to social clues in borderline personality disorder). In a well-designed study, researchers examined the behavioral effects of acute and chronic administration of intranasal oxytocin in mice.

Acute administration increased the duration of some, but not all, social behaviors. However, chronic administration (twice daily for 7–21 days) produced the opposite effect (reduction of a more widespread group of social behavio…