Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; and Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email:
Annu Rev Psychol. 2014;65:17-39. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115110. Epub 2013 Sep 19.
This review examines the hypothesis that oxytocin pathways--which include the neuropeptide oxytocin, the related peptide vasopressin, and their receptors--are at the center of physiological and genetic systems that permitted the evolution of the human nervous system and allowed the expression of contemporary human sociality. Unique actions of oxytocin, including the facilitation of birth, lactation, maternal behavior, genetic regulation of the growth of the neocortex, and the maintenance of the blood supply to the cortex, may have been necessary for encephalization. Peptide-facilitated attachment also allows the extended periods of nurture necessary for the emergence of human intellectual development. In general, oxytocin acts to allow the high levels of social sensitivity and attunement necessary for human sociality and for rearing a human child. Under optimal conditions oxytocin may create an emotional sense of safety. Oxytocin dynamically moderates the autonomic nervous system, and effects of oxytocin on vagal pathways, as well as the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of this peptide, help to explain the pervasive adaptive consequences of social behavior for emotional and physical health.
这篇综述探讨了这样一个假设，即催产素途径——包括神经肽催产素、相关肽血管加压素及其受体——处于允许人类神经系统进化并使当代人类社会性得以表达的生理和遗传系统的中心。催产素的独特作用，包括促进分娩、哺乳、母性行为、新皮层生长的基因调控以及维持皮层的血液供应，可能对大脑化是必要的。肽促进的附着也允许出现人类智力发展所必需的长时间养育。一般来说，催产素可以增强人类社会性和养育人类孩子所需的高水平社交敏感性和协调能力。在最佳条件下，催产素可能会产生一种安全的情感感。催产素动态调节自主神经系统，催产素对迷走神经通路的影响，以及这种肽的抗氧化和抗炎作用，有助于解释社交行为对情感和身体健康的普遍适应性后果。
