Hormonal Shifts in Fatherhood: The Oxytocin-Testosterone Connection | InformativeBD

Mohamed Aalilil,  Amit Jain,  and Mirza Masroor Ali Beg, from the different institute of Kyrgyzstan and India. wrote a Research Article about, Hormonal Shifts in Fatherhood: The Oxytocin-Testosterone Connection. entitled, Interplay between oxytocin and testosterone hormonal shift during fatherhood: A review article. This research paper published by the International International Journal of Biosciences (IJB). an open access scholarly research journal on Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

The interplay between oxytocin and testosterone level depicted a considerable evidences that to use as background to examine the behavioral adaptations of male during the perinatal period. Oxytocin is evident as bonding hormone is the important for fostering social connection, responsiveness, and fostering behaviors while testosterone is usually associated with effectiveness, supremacy, and aggression. It has been revealed that the hormonal swing in men during their partner’s pregnancy and postnatal period suggested rise in oxytocin is linked with lower testosterone level. These changes likely to bring the caregiving behaviors, diminish aggression, and improve emotional connections with the newborn, presenting an evolutionary approach for cooperative parenting. Present review synthesizes endocrinology, anthropology, and psychology findings to explore the mechanisms driving these changes, their behavioral outcomes, and their implications for fatherhood. Furthermore, the article investigates, how these hormonal shifts shape paternal caregiving and influence family dynamics and compare them to similar arrangements in other species. By exploratory biological and societal dimensions, this work provides all-inclusive impression of the hormonal fundamentals of paternal behavior and neural shift during fatherhood.

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Introduction

In all mammalian species, the steroid testosterone (T) and neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) enable psychophysiological changes necessary for the establishment of parental care (Ziegler and Snowdon, 2000). Mothers are frequently linked to hormonal changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period, but there is mounting evidence that men also experience significant hormonal changes (Gettler et al., 2011).

Oxytocin has been linked to sensitive fathering responses in both humans and animals, and it initiates and modulates parental behavior in many species (Horrell et al., 2021). The interaction between oxytocin and testosterone has become a crucial area of scientific study among these hormonal changes (Feldman, 2015; Gordon et al., 2017). Oxytocin, bonding hormone is a neuropeptide released by the posterior pituitary gland played important role in social bonding, trust and caregiving behaviors (Feldman, 2015; Carter, 2014).

In the perspective of parenting, oxytocin enriches a father's ability to form emotional relations with their child, promoting nurturing and caring behaviors (Gordon et al., 2017). The distinct behavioral collection that characterizes human maternal and paternal care has been allied with oxytocin (Gordon et al., 2010). During interactions, oxytocin is linked to more affectionate touch and social gaze in mothers, whereas it is linked to greater pleasant arousal and stimulation in fathers (Feldman et al., 2010). Peripheral oxytocin levels in human plasma and saliva have been linked to early parenting behaviors, such as how mothers and fathers provide care (Gordon et al., 2011). Positive paternal behavior in human fathers was associated with a decrease in testosterone throughout the transition to motherhood (Perini et al., 2012; Fleming et al., 2002). Compared to men with higher testosterone levels, those with lower testosterone levels showed more empathy and a greater desire to react to their baby's cries (Fleming et al., 2002). The trade-off between mating and parenting has been proposed to be supported by testosterone variations in males throughout the transition to fatherhood (Gettler et al., 2011; Gettler et al., 2013).

However, during the perinatal period, fathers experience a measurable decline in testosterone levels, which is hypothesized to reduce aggressive tendencies and prioritize caregiving (Feldman and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2017). 

Furthermore, males with greater testosterone levels show less emotional touch toward their infant, express less sympathy when the newborn cries for unknown reasons (Fleming et al., 2002; Weisman et al., 2014), and are not as much involved in maternal care (Mascaro et al., 2013), which may reflect declined empathic rejoining to children's needs. Oxytocin is also complex in responsiveness and passion processing (Bartz et al., 2011). The perceived inverse association between oxytocin and testosterone hormones during fatherhood proposes a biologically embedded mechanism aimed at recalibrating male behaviors to nurture family cohesion and effective parenting (Feldman, 2015). Hormonal regulation not only plays important role in paternal caregiving but also agreements valuable insights into broader social and evolutionary contexts (Feldman, 2015; Gordon et al., 2017). The present review article summarized the hormonal shifting and neural adaptations in the Brain during fatherhood.

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Source : Interplay between oxytocin and testosterone hormonal shift during fatherhood: A review article