Dosin' the 'tocin
March 14, 2010 5:17 PM Subscribe
It may increase schadenfreude.
It's an assistant to abortifacients and it's produced by stimulating the nipples. Got a clogged lizard? Your mom used it to turn off your brain for your own good. In women, it peaks at orgasm, but in men, it might be elevated throughout sex without peaking. And what do you mean "social" monogamy!? Is it the love 'em and leave 'em hormone?? Well, it's NOT Vasopressin For Her, contrary to what some people think.
Is it an impedance to feminism? Could it be the key to treating Autism? Ism... ism... jism? YEP. It's in the jism! Its synthesis was the end of A Trail of Sulfa Research, and its master was awarded the Nobel Prize. (Chemistry, not Peace.) You can scent your loveletters with it, but sorry, peaches... you can't huff a good cuddle, but you might like to huff while you cuddle. Previously.
This "it". It has a referrent?
posted by DU at 5:27 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 5:27 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oxytocin, right?
posted by orthogonality at 5:28 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by orthogonality at 5:28 PM on March 14, 2010
Wait, is this a post about drugs, or a drug-induced post?
posted by FfejL at 5:28 PM on March 14, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by FfejL at 5:28 PM on March 14, 2010 [3 favorites]
Is this like the yes/no game? ... Can it be used in the kitchen?
posted by memebake at 5:29 PM on March 14, 2010 [9 favorites]
posted by memebake at 5:29 PM on March 14, 2010 [9 favorites]
> Wait, is this a post about drugs, or a drug-induced post?
I posted this from bed with a sleepy boyfriend and a fluffy kitty and a plush comforter, so yeah, both. xoxoxoxoxoxoxxxxxxx
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:35 PM on March 14, 2010 [3 favorites]
I posted this from bed with a sleepy boyfriend and a fluffy kitty and a plush comforter, so yeah, both. xoxoxoxoxoxoxxxxxxx
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:35 PM on March 14, 2010 [3 favorites]
What is ...my next aerosol weapon Alex?
posted by The Whelk at 5:38 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 5:38 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think I have a concussion.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:39 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:39 PM on March 14, 2010
I can't think about oxytocin without hearing the jingle from the Radiolab episode "This Is Your Brain on Love."
posted by ocherdraco at 5:42 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by ocherdraco at 5:42 PM on March 14, 2010
Last link has an extra "L" after .html.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 5:43 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by The Light Fantastic at 5:43 PM on March 14, 2010
Oxytocin, right?
Drat. All this time I've been scenting my love letters wrong.
posted by hal9k at 5:44 PM on March 14, 2010
Drat. All this time I've been scenting my love letters wrong.
posted by hal9k at 5:44 PM on March 14, 2010
"This observation also indirectly argues against an oxytocin-induced increase in semen backflow following intrauterine semen deposition. However, since we did not assess amounts of semen backflow, this suggestion is speculative."
Semen backflow. There's a phrase that just rolls off the tongue.
posted by tellurian at 5:45 PM on March 14, 2010
Semen backflow. There's a phrase that just rolls off the tongue.
posted by tellurian at 5:45 PM on March 14, 2010
Semen backflow. There's a phrase that just rolls off the tongue.
You're doing it wrong.
posted by hal9k at 5:47 PM on March 14, 2010 [29 favorites]
You're doing it wrong.
posted by hal9k at 5:47 PM on March 14, 2010 [29 favorites]
The fluffy kitty is the drug as it is the only substance of the three having proven mind-control effects.
Oh no, the kitties are watching, I've said....
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:51 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh no, the kitties are watching, I've said....
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:51 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
how is kitteh smoked?
posted by The Whelk at 6:05 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 6:05 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oxytocin is really interesting in that it seems as though it should produce a "high"-- if it's the stuff that makes you bond at orgasm, connect with babies, trust friends, feel safe and comfortable, well, it sounds basically like Oxycontin.
In fact, it *doesn't* produce any kind of high and they still don't know why. The theory I found most plausible when I wrote an article trying to answer this question for New Scientist was that what it does is connect a particular person to the opioid/dopamine system. So, the oxytocin itself isn't pleasurable, but it links the attributes of that person to pleasure, which is caused by the more typical pleasure systems involving opioids and dopamine.
posted by Maias at 6:11 PM on March 14, 2010 [9 favorites]
In fact, it *doesn't* produce any kind of high and they still don't know why. The theory I found most plausible when I wrote an article trying to answer this question for New Scientist was that what it does is connect a particular person to the opioid/dopamine system. So, the oxytocin itself isn't pleasurable, but it links the attributes of that person to pleasure, which is caused by the more typical pleasure systems involving opioids and dopamine.
posted by Maias at 6:11 PM on March 14, 2010 [9 favorites]
Sorry, I'd take an hour to work through this link dump, but I've got a new puppy to play with.
posted by felix betachat at 6:22 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by felix betachat at 6:22 PM on March 14, 2010
Is this like the yes/no game?
Wait, what?
Poll: Who calls this the yes/no game and who calls it 20 questions?
posted by phunniemee at 6:27 PM on March 14, 2010
Wait, what?
Poll: Who calls this the yes/no game and who calls it 20 questions?
posted by phunniemee at 6:27 PM on March 14, 2010
What is "Theobromine", Alex?
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:29 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:29 PM on March 14, 2010
Hey Maias, do you have a take on this contradiction standing in the wikipedia overview: that it effects the amygdala in experiements, according to some, and doesn't effect the CNS when administered nasally according to others? Also, how do you reconcile what you're saying with the findings about increases in social emotions? I'm definitely curious about the relationship between social emotions and pleasure systems.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:32 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:32 PM on March 14, 2010
Apparently you have some of the high-grade stuff out where you are. Some kind of pharmeceutical quality good-ass shit.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:41 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by louche mustachio at 6:41 PM on March 14, 2010
are you saying feminism isn't current? har har. yeah, I thought that looked wrong. whoops. proof that "certain learning and memory functions are impaired by centrally administered oxytocin?" Je regrette rien!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 7:16 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 7:16 PM on March 14, 2010
20 Questions. Yes/No game? NO.
posted by adamdschneider at 7:43 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by adamdschneider at 7:43 PM on March 14, 2010
Oxytocin is the trust chemical and serotonin makes you happy unless you don't have enough and need Prozac, and dopamine makes you feel good like with drugs and stuff and glutamate they put in Chinese food and it gives you headaches so it must be bad. I guess they haven't discovered the chemicals for hate and embarrassment and irony but eventually they will and then we'll know how the brain works.
IT'S SCIENCE!
posted by dephlogisticated at 7:58 PM on March 14, 2010 [8 favorites]
IT'S SCIENCE!
posted by dephlogisticated at 7:58 PM on March 14, 2010 [8 favorites]
Sorry. Pet peeve. I need to be less bitter about neurochemistry.
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:00 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:00 PM on March 14, 2010
This is why I stopped talking to people who read books. I don't like feeling stupid thanks.
posted by anniecat at 8:06 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by anniecat at 8:06 PM on March 14, 2010
tl;dr but does this mean the over-spill of grilled cheese sandwiches is good for me?
posted by Kerasia at 8:31 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by Kerasia at 8:31 PM on March 14, 2010
I had an IT client with a private medical practice who thought Oxytocin would be the solution to Africa's problems. Because, you know, the Africans only kill each other over undiagnosed trust issues. So all they need is to be equipped with Oxytocin inhalers. When the Janjaweed shows up with A-Ks and machetes, well they just take a couple huffs and everything's right as rain.
The worst thing is this wasn't his idea. He saw it on DateLine.
posted by clarknova at 8:39 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
The worst thing is this wasn't his idea. He saw it on DateLine.
posted by clarknova at 8:39 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
This is why I stopped talking to people who read books. I don't like feeling stupid thanks.
Yeah, I apologize for the tone. My beef isn't with the lay-public, but with the science journalists that promulgate so much nonsense.
I've always been enraptured by the complexity of the brain, which is part of what got me into the field in the first place. But besides being just plain misleading, I think this popular tendency to associate specific emotions with particular neurotransmitters is in some way almost... disrespectful. The brain is an enormously complex system that represents all we are as human beings. Would you really even want such a system to be so simple and intuitive to understand? In some ways, I'm grateful that it's not, even if it makes my job that much harder.
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:42 PM on March 14, 2010 [5 favorites]
Yeah, I apologize for the tone. My beef isn't with the lay-public, but with the science journalists that promulgate so much nonsense.
I've always been enraptured by the complexity of the brain, which is part of what got me into the field in the first place. But besides being just plain misleading, I think this popular tendency to associate specific emotions with particular neurotransmitters is in some way almost... disrespectful. The brain is an enormously complex system that represents all we are as human beings. Would you really even want such a system to be so simple and intuitive to understand? In some ways, I'm grateful that it's not, even if it makes my job that much harder.
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:42 PM on March 14, 2010 [5 favorites]
Now comes with a free candy bar and kittycat calendar!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:51 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:51 PM on March 14, 2010
deplo, don't you think the link contents here demonstrate the mysterious and broad-reaching effects of oxytocin, one chemical color in the amazing mammalian physiological palette? Not to moderate my own post, but that's what interests me about it: how it's much more than "the trust chemical."
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:57 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:57 PM on March 14, 2010
Yeah, I apologize for the tone. My beef isn't with the lay-public, but with the science journalists that promulgate so much nonsense
I was kidding.
posted by anniecat at 9:06 PM on March 14, 2010
I was kidding.
posted by anniecat at 9:06 PM on March 14, 2010
20 questions
posted by unknowncommand at 11:23 PM on March 14, 2010
posted by unknowncommand at 11:23 PM on March 14, 2010
An uber-druggie friend had some and I skin-popped it and wow. So then I tried getting some for myself and tried the same thing and....nothing. The mystery deepens.
posted by telstar at 12:33 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by telstar at 12:33 AM on March 15, 2010
how is kitteh smoked?
I preferr mine planked on alder over red oak coals.
posted by Pollomacho at 5:52 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
I preferr mine planked on alder over red oak coals.
posted by Pollomacho at 5:52 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
is kitteh smoked?
we had a post last week about how to use the kitteh in baked goods. If you want it fluffy, make sure you beat the egg whites separately.
posted by Crash at 7:33 AM on March 15, 2010
we had a post last week about how to use the kitteh in baked goods. If you want it fluffy, make sure you beat the egg whites separately.
posted by Crash at 7:33 AM on March 15, 2010
While scientists have long suspected that clicking on links concerning Oxytocin produces a prodigious number of pop-ups, it's finally proven, in this FPP!
posted by Danf at 7:59 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by Danf at 7:59 AM on March 15, 2010
Ambrosia, like others have noted, all brain chemicals are quite obviously more complex than the dopamine = pleasure, serotonin = calm, oxytocin = love simplifiers would have it.
But there's a real mystery about why oxytocin can't be distinguished from placebo *even when it demonstrably changes behavior* by volunteers. In those trust experiments-- in fact in almost all of the oxy experiments that I know of-- the subjects can't tell what they got when they are asked.
So, it's clearly doing something but whatever it's doing is not consciously accessible the way a heroin high would be. I guess it's similar to how SSRI's act: they certainly don't cause a "high" and you can tell when you become less depressed, but the effects are difficult to discern consciously for those who don't have side effects and do have positive effects.
posted by Maias at 12:18 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
But there's a real mystery about why oxytocin can't be distinguished from placebo *even when it demonstrably changes behavior* by volunteers. In those trust experiments-- in fact in almost all of the oxy experiments that I know of-- the subjects can't tell what they got when they are asked.
So, it's clearly doing something but whatever it's doing is not consciously accessible the way a heroin high would be. I guess it's similar to how SSRI's act: they certainly don't cause a "high" and you can tell when you become less depressed, but the effects are difficult to discern consciously for those who don't have side effects and do have positive effects.
posted by Maias at 12:18 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
how is kitten smoked?
In my experience, huffing them yields better results.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 12:33 PM on March 15, 2010
In my experience, huffing them yields better results.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 12:33 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur
Extra points for the combination of nick and content.
posted by Mental Wimp at 4:04 PM on March 15, 2010
Extra points for the combination of nick and content.
posted by Mental Wimp at 4:04 PM on March 15, 2010
This lizard, it drains?
posted by Crabby Appleton at 5:20 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by Crabby Appleton at 5:20 PM on March 15, 2010
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