ReviewCurrent topics in behavioral neurosciences
Oxytocin and Social Relationships: From Attachment to Bond Disruption.
Review in Current topics in behavioral neurosciences. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 158 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- The neuroscience of social feelings: mechanisms of adaptive social functioning.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The neurobiological reward system in Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD): A systematic review.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2020Pooled it
- The effects of intranasal oxytocin on the efficacy of psychotherapy for major depressive disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial.Psychological medicine · 2024Trial
- Dwelling in prolonged grief: Resting state functional connectivity during oxytocin and placebo administration.Human brain mapping · 2023Trial
- Oxytocin increases eye-gaze towards novel social and non-social stimuli.Social neuroscience · 2019Trial
- Bridging Genes and Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Contributions of OXTR Gene Variants and Methylation to Brain Connectivity Patterns.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- The oxytocin system mediates behavioral and neurobiological alterations associated with early adversity.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Sex-specific disruption of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) density in the social brain neural network by Firemaster 550.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Article
- Current and future pharmacotherapy for female sexual dysfunction.Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- Prolonged grief disorder in later life: advancing our understanding of biopsychosocial mechanisms to guide future personalized interventions.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- The Emerging Role of Prolactin as a Biomarker for Reproduction, Health, and Welfare in Wildlife Species: Elephants as a Model.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Tetrahydrobiopterin and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of a Promising Therapeutic Pathway.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- How early olfactory experiences influence brain development in mice.Frontiers in neural circuits · 2025Review
- Psychophysiology of facial emotion recognition in psychopathy dimensions and oxytocin's role: A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- PVN-mPFC OT projections modulate pup-directed pup care or attacking in virgin mandarin voles.eLife · 2024Article
- Arginine vasopressin in mood disorders: A potential biomarker of disease pathology and a target for pharmacologic intervention.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2024Review
- Oxytocin and women's health in midlife.The Journal of endocrinology · 2024Review
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Social relationships throughout life are vital for well-being and physical and mental health. A significant amount of research in animal models as well as in humans suggests that oxytocin (OT) plays an important role in the development of the capacity to form social bonds, the mediation of the positive aspects of early-life nurturing on adult bonding capacity, and the maintenance of social bonding. Here, we focus on the extensive research on a socially monogamous rodent model organism, the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). OT facilitates mating-induced pair bonds in adults through interaction with the mesolimbic dopamine system. Variation in striatal OT receptor density predicts resilience and susceptibility to neonatal social neglect in female prairie voles. Finally, in adults, loss of a partner results in multiple disruptions in OT signaling, including decreased OT release in the striatum, which is caused by an activation of the brain corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) system. The dramatic behavioral consequence of partner loss is increased depressive-like behavior reminiscent of bereavement. Importantly, infusions of OT into the striatum of adults prevents the onset of depressive-like behavior following partner loss, and evoking endogenous OT release using melanocortin agonists during neonatal social isolation rescues impairments in social bonding in adulthood. This work has important translational implications relevant to the disruptions of social bonds in childhood and in adults.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.