The Love Hormone: The History of Oxytocin

Oxytocin is known by most as “the love hormone” or “the cuddle chemical.” It turns out that these descriptions are simplified to the point of no longer being correct. (Have you noticed how that happens a lot in health science?)

My next few articles will be focused on this fascinating hormone and neurotransmitter. Let's start with a quick history lesson, and then my next articles will dive into our current understanding of oxytocin, how it affects women and men differently, and some things you can do to increase your ability to make and use oxytocin.

Oxytocin was first identified in 1906 as a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that causes contractions of the uterus. It was for this first-known function that it was named oxytocin, from the Greek words that mean “quick birth.” (Doesn’t sound as romantic when you realize what it’s named for, does it?) 

In 1910, its function in releasing milk during breast feeding was discovered, and in 1952, it became the first peptide hormone to be sequenced and synthesized in a lab—which is now the drug given to pregnant women to induce contractions.

In the early 1990s, we began to learn about the behavioral effects of oxytocin when researchers studied why breastfeeding women seemed especially calm and content. It was the extension of this research, and the subsequent discoveries of oxytocin’s role as a neurotransmitter, that led it to being popularly labeled “the love hormone” and “the cuddle chemical” in the early 2000s. This basic understanding of oxytocin told us that oxytocin was not only a hormone used to facilitate birth and breast-feeding, but was also an important neurotransmitter involved in bonding.  

It’s only within the last 10 years or so that we’ve been able to study oxytocin in more nuanced ways to reveal not only how it facilitates bonding, but also to understand some of its darker characteristics.

Stick with me as I explore this topic in more detail in my upcoming articles.