Oxytocin and female sexuality

Abstract

A search of the literature has been prepared to determine how oxytocin may affect sexual and reproductive behaviors in women. Many animal studies suggest that oxytocin induces a variety of reproductive behaviors, including grooming, sexual arousal, orgasm, gamete transport, nesting, birthing, and specific maternal behaviors such as breast-feeding and bonding between mother and infant. These actions are apparently facilitated by the ‘priming’ effect on certain cells by sex and steroid hormones – as the brief case report would also suggest. However, no adequate double-blind trial has confirmed the observations from this report in women. Only animal studies have been performed, albeit over a wi..