Can Oxytocin Get Me A Boyfriend?
Can the hormone oxytocin make you fall in love? © Valentyn Oleinikov | Dreamstime.comA personal experiment with the love hormone We met up at a dim sum place in Chinatown. He smiled when he saw me, and I gave him a long hug. Already, there was none of the stiff awkwardness that had plagued our first two dates. What my companion didn't know was that minutes before arriving at the restaurant, I had inhaled two puffs of oxytocin, a polypeptide hormone that might be the biological basis for love. The brain releases oxytocin into the bloodstream during physical contact such as stroking, hugging, and sex. When this happens, blood pressure lowers and you feel calm, safe, and trusting. As a part of the body's anti-stress system, it works as a mirror to adrenalin, the hormone associated with the fight-or-flight response. I was researching oxytocin for an article about the science...