RJA #8b: Background Essay Plan

Thesis:  Many Chemists believe that the role of the hormone "Oxytocin" is the key factor which allows the human species to bond and connect providing security for the rest of the family.

• Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter. Once believed to confine its effects to inducing labor and milk ejection, oxytocin actually has far-reaching effects on both sexes. You could not fall in love without it. (reuniting.info)
• These days it goes by nicknames such as "the bonding hormone," "the cuddle hormone," and even "the love hormone."(reuniting.info)
• Oxytocin is the reason why people with pets tend to recover more quickly from illness, why married people tend to live longer, why support groups benefit those with cancer, addictions and chronic disorders, and why care-giving primate parents, whether male or female, live longer than the non-care-giving parents.(reuniting.info)
• Our brains are hard-wired to become distressed when we’re suddenly pulled from those we depend on physically or psychologically. So it’s not necessarily surprising, then, that oxytocin’s calming effects lend credence to its reputation as a hormone of relational repair. (oxytocincentral.com)
• some of the hormone’s main functions are preparing a female’s body for childbirth, stimulating milk “let-down” so that a baby can properly feed, and facilitating the bond between a mother and a newborn infant.(oxytocincentral.com)
• When the fetus is ready to be born, it releases oxytocin, which starts a process that causes the mother’s pituitary gland to release more of the hormone. Once the hormone is released, it causes the uterus to contract, which in turn helps push the baby out.(wisegeek.com)
• Once the baby is born, oxytocin helps to encourage the mother-child bonding. (wisegeek.com)
• hormone stimulates the nurturing and maternal instincts (wisegeek.com)