Vasopressin And Social Recognition

Social interaction and behavior including everything from altruistic actions towards family members to acting properly at work , is a crucial part of our life. It is important to understand the mechanisms behind why we feel an urge to behave in the way we do. Many probably wondered, why do some people cheat compulsively while others stay faithful or why some people are more “emotionally available” than others. Recently neurobiologists have made breakthroughs behind the differences in this behavior. Interspecific marked conservations seem to be responsible for regulating behavior. Small protein like neurotransmitters called neuropeptides have been found to have a large impact on reasoning and behavior. Within mammals vasopressin has been found …show more content…
If vasopressin is infused directly into the brain, rats show an increase in social recognition memory. Vasopressin has an affect on the lateral septum in the brain resulting in some aspect of recognition. Rats were presented with novel stimuli, which the researchers reintroduced repeatedly to gauge the amount of time the rat spent investigating it. Homozygous Brattleboro rats lack the ability to release vasopressin and they do not exhibit social memory, however social recognition was regained with the infusion of vasopressin into the brain. When a Long-Evans rat, which can produce vasopressin, was treated with a V1a antagonist social recognition was diminished, however an infusion into the lateral septum rescued this effect (Hammock 2006). These findings further tie vasopressin to actions and behaviors, which are needed for social communication whether in mating or general …show more content…
Some studies in humans were looking to determine the relationship of vasopressin to the amplitude of socio-sexual behavior. Vasopressin was injected directly via the nasal cavity to observe the behavioral effect (Rilling 2014). The prisoner’s dilemma game was used to study this phenomenon. The results showed the previously discussed sexual dimorphism. In women vasopressin caused a more appeasing behavior leading to more compromise, which would be beneficial in relationships. Another interesting correlation found is that women injected with vasopressin show a higher degree of humanizing computer models and willingness to collaborate. In men, complementation of cooperation was observed towards both human and computer models. In addition men experienced an increase in brain activity in parts that are responsible for social bonding and arousal among other social behaviors. These findings show great potential for future studies to be done that can shine light on the possible applications of vasopressin treatments injected