This video examines Rebecca Turner's research on the role of the hormone oxytocin in the experience of love.
This video examines Rebecca Turner's research on the role of the hormone oxytocin in the experience of love. More generally, the program provides useful insight into the physiology underlying emotions. As a young woman vividly recalls her husband's marriage proposal in very glowing, positive terms, Turner's research team measures the level of oxytocin in her bloodstream. Previous research has indicated that the hormone plays an important role in many reproductive behaviors, including breast feeding, childbirth, and orgasm. Turner notes that oxytocin receptors are present in parts of the brain that are involved in emotion and its autonomic control. This finding raises the question of whether this specific hormone underlies the experience of love. Turner concludes that research findings suggest that oxytocin influences patterns of loving and associated behaviors. In short, oxytocin levels seem to rise and fall in research participants with the level of loving attachment they feel.