Social bonding: regulation by neuropeptides

Affiliative social relationships (e.g., among spouses, family members, and friends) play an essential role in human society. These relationships affect psychological, physiological, and behavioral functions. As positive and enduring bonds are critical for the overall well-being of humans, it is not surprising that considerable effort has been made to study the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie social bonding behaviors. The present review details the involvement of the nonapeptides, oxytocin (OT), and arginine vasopressin (AVP), in the regulation of social bonding in mammals including humans. In particular, we will discuss the role of OT and AVP in the formation of social bonds between partners of a mating pair as well as between parents and their offspring. Furthermore, the role of OT and AVP in the formation of interpersonal bonding involving trust is also discussed.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  Frontiers in Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2014-06-24

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fnins.2014.00171PMID 25009457PMCID 4067905
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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