oxytocin
Biochemistry. a polypeptide hormone, produced by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, that stimulates contraction of the smooth muscle of the uterus.
Pharmacology. a commercial form of this substance, obtained from beef and hog pituitary glands or especially by synthesis, and used chiefly in obstetrics to induce labor and to control postnatal hemorrhage.
Origin of oxytocin
1Words Nearby oxytocin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use oxytocin in a sentence
People who sniff oxytocin before they play together are more in sync rhythmically.
We’re More of Ourselves When We’re in Tune with Others - Issue 104: Harmony | Kevin Berger | July 21, 2021 | NautilusWhen you’re moved by music, we see levels of the attachment-hormone oxytocin increase.
We’re More of Ourselves When We’re in Tune with Others - Issue 104: Harmony | Kevin Berger | July 21, 2021 | NautilusThe two pregnancy-related hormones, prolactin and oxytocin, are responsible for milk production.
Prolactin induces the luminal cells to make milk while oxytocin makes the myoepithelial cells contract.
When you lock eyes with a dog or when you touch a dog, there are studies looking at the fact that your oxytocin levels go up.
Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog (Ep. 436) | Stephen J. Dubner | October 22, 2020 | Freakonomics
When fathers hold and play with their children, oxytocin and prolactin kick in, priming them for bonding.
How Good Dads Can Change the World | Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSuch effects can be traced, at least in part, to the way neglect affects signaling neurochemicals, like the hormone oxytocin.
Free Birth Control: Could It Transform Society? | Brian Alexander, Larry Young | October 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTI think the most surprising thing to me was the oxytocin story.
And the people with higher levels of oxytocin were more generous in the amounts they chose to return to the original investor.
British Dictionary definitions for oxytocin
/ (ˌɒksɪˈtəʊsɪn) /
a polypeptide hormone, secreted by the pituitary gland, that stimulates contractions of the uterus or oviduct and ejection of milk in mammals; alphahypophame: used therapeutically for aiding childbirth. Formula: C 43 H 68 N 12 O 12 S 2: Compare vasopressin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for oxytocin
[ ŏk′sĭ-tō′sĭn ]
A polypeptide hormone secreted by the posterior portion of the pituitary gland. Oxytocin stimulates the contraction of smooth muscle of the uterus during childbirth and facilitates ejection of milk from the mammary glands.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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