Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
OT promotes social bonding in dogs, REFERENCE: Romero T, Nagasawa M, Mogi…
OT promotes social bonding in dogs
Introduction and methods
Sociability evolved to reduce risk from predation or increase ability to find food. However, reproductive and competitive success are influenced by the quality of social bonds and how well an individual performs socially.
Oxytocin has been noted to influence regulation of behaviors including pair-bonding, parental care, sexual behavior, and peer recognition. As well as increasing trusting behavior, cooperation and generosity in humans and primates.
In dogs’ close social partnerships have noted changes in the levels of Oxytocin. Although it is unclear if this oxytocin is directly fed back to the brain to produce effects.
To test how well oxytocin (OT) regulates social bonds in domesticated dogs, a pharmacological intervention is employed. Domestic dogs were chosen as they can form bonds not just with members of their own species but with other breeds and humans.
The effects of OT on the behavior of the dogs are used to determine social bond strength among groups. The dogs were administered OT intranasally and stayed in an experiment room for 60 minutes with their owner and familiar dogs and behavior was recorded. OT levels in the urine are also measured to determine if the system functions as a bio-behavioral feedback loop.
Results
With other dogs it was also found that OT treated dogs would interact with their dog partners more often with no regard to sex of the partner. Similarly to with the owner test the OT dogs would also spend more time approaching or paying attention to the partner dog.
Dogs treated with OT showed higher interaction with its owner than dogs untreated and showed a higher social orientation towards the owner, meaning that the dog would look or pay attention to its owner more often than untreated dogs.
The urinary levels of OT showed signs that the system was able to stabilize over time. However, the change in OT in urine showed an affiliation with immediate reciprocation from the partner dog. Suggesting that this triggered the release of endogenous OT.
OT did not inhibit or decrease antisocial effects such as anxiety or stress but instead promoted higher levels of social interaction that overpowered the negative effects.
Discussion
OT caused dogs to be more interactive and social with both humans and other dog partners. Suggesting that OT enhances the motivation to be social and approach other social partners.
This evidence shows that OT not only serves as a factor in pair bonding but also for social behaviors like parental behavior. These findings are in line with human studies that showed similar results for trusting behavior in humans.
OT was able to show the same social effects between dogs and across species between humans and dogs. This suggests that OT may be involved in the formation of cooperative behavior between genetically unrelated individuals.
This study may not have addressed the complete mechanism of which OT affects social bonds and behavior, but it supports that notion that OT can directly influence social motivation rather than reducing issues that would prevent social interaction such as anxiety.
The influence of hormones is not simple. Even though OT can cause social behavior changes in a positive aspect. Certain behaviors can also trigger OT secretion such as contact or reciprocation, although one of these pathways alone is not strong enough to effectively raise OT levels. Implying that multiple interactions must be met to effectively raise OT levels.
It is believed that OT may be in a type of positive feedback loop where OT causes social interactions that stimulate the secretion of more OT further increasing the hormones effects. This study supports this idea as OT levels would increase the affiliation of the dog with others would increase and so would its social behavior. Providing evidence that OT is an important mechanism in forming and maintaining cooperative bonds between both related and unrelated individuals.
Question
OT is also a hormone that promotes contractions during pregnancy and in breast feeding. Would the elevated levels of OT during pregnancy cause higher levels of social interaction with others or towards the offspring increasing the levels of care towards the offspring and to others. How well does it influence the aspect of caregiving?
REFERENCE:
Romero T, Nagasawa M, Mogi K, Hasegawa T, Kikusui T. 2014. Oxytocin promotes social bonding in dogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111(25):9085–9090. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1322868111
.
https://www.pnas.org/content/111/25/9085
.
: :