Urtado Silva Jessica, Galhardoni Ricardo, Ciampi de Andrade Daniel, Brito Ivana
School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Neurosci Lett. 2019 Apr 17;698:64-68. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.12.032. Epub 2018 Dec 21.
In addition to its role in childbirth labor and lactation, oxytocin is a well-known neurohormone, having several prosocial effects. Moreover, oxytocin seems to play a significant modulatory role in painful experiences, due to its participation in central and peripheral processing of nociceptive somatosensory information. Despite studies on oxytocin in pain modulation, there is a scarce literature investigating the role of oxytocin in tactile perception. Here we investigate the effects of 24 and 40 IU intranasal administration of oxytocin in the non-harmful mechanical tactile detection threshold in men. The data showed a significant increase in tactile perception in an experimental 40 IU oxytocin group. We suggest that this effect could be the basis for the oxytocin-bonding effect via touch.
