John Hamilton
👤 PersonAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
So it's not like, say, a duckling that just imprints on the first creature it sees after hatching. I actually called up one of the scientists who did a lot of the early work on prairie voles. Her name is Sue Carter, and she's on the faculty at both the University of Virginia and Indiana University.
Swipe left or swipe right, you know, man.
Swipe left or swipe right, you know, man.
Swipe left or swipe right, you know, man.
Well, so back in the 80s and 90s, Sue Carter helped show that oxytocin levels rise when a prairie vole meets that special someone. She and others did these lab experiments showing that if you give a prairie vole extra oxytocin, it increases their tendency to pair bond. But if you give a drug that blocks oxytocin, they won't pair bond at all.
Well, so back in the 80s and 90s, Sue Carter helped show that oxytocin levels rise when a prairie vole meets that special someone. She and others did these lab experiments showing that if you give a prairie vole extra oxytocin, it increases their tendency to pair bond. But if you give a drug that blocks oxytocin, they won't pair bond at all.
Well, so back in the 80s and 90s, Sue Carter helped show that oxytocin levels rise when a prairie vole meets that special someone. She and others did these lab experiments showing that if you give a prairie vole extra oxytocin, it increases their tendency to pair bond. But if you give a drug that blocks oxytocin, they won't pair bond at all.
And oxytocin levels, by the way, also seem to predict a lot of human pair bonding behavior.
And oxytocin levels, by the way, also seem to predict a lot of human pair bonding behavior.
And oxytocin levels, by the way, also seem to predict a lot of human pair bonding behavior.
That is the conventional wisdom in popular culture and everything. There's even a Billie Eilish song called Oxytocin. Key lyric, you know I need you for the oxytocin.
That is the conventional wisdom in popular culture and everything. There's even a Billie Eilish song called Oxytocin. Key lyric, you know I need you for the oxytocin.
That is the conventional wisdom in popular culture and everything. There's even a Billie Eilish song called Oxytocin. Key lyric, you know I need you for the oxytocin.
And speaking of scientists, you know that scientist Dave Minoli? Yeah. The one who was talking about how prairie vole couples like to huddle? He was a total believer in the love hormone idea until he wasn't, at least not so much.