Oxytocin - popularly known as the love hormone - plays a crucial role in helping the brain process a wide array of social signals, Harvard scientists have found. In investigating the role of oxytocin in processing social signals, researchers from Harvard University in the US began with a prevalent behaviour - the preference for male mice to interact with females. Studies have shown that this behaviour is not just social - it is actually hard-wired in the brains of male mice. “This is a molecule that’s involved in the processing of social signals,” said Catherine Dulac, professor at Harvard. “What we are trying to do is understand the logic of social interactions in one particular species,” Dulac said.

Source: Hindustan Times January 22, 2018 06:33 UTC