Objective(s): The effect of prolonged overtraining on cytokine kinetics was compared with moderate exercise in the present study.   Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control sedentary (C), moderate trained (MT), (V=20 m/min, 30 min/day for 6 days a week, 8 weeks), overtrained (OT) (V=25 m/min, 60min/day for 6 days a week, 11 weeks) and recovered overtrai...

Previous work demonstrated that oxytocinergic projections to the solitary vagal complex are involved in the restraint of exercise-induced tachycardia (2). In the present study, we tested the idea that oxytocin (OT) terminals in the solitary vagal complex [nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS)/dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV)] are involved in baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate (HR). ...

A growing body of literature has suggested that intranasal oxytocin (OT) or other systemic routes of administration can alter prosocial behavior, presumably by directly activating OT sensitive neural circuits in the brain. Yet there is no clear evidence that OT given peripherally can cross the blood-brain barrier at levels sufficient to engage the OT receptor. To address this issue we examined ...

A recent paper (Beaver, 2004) recasts the Centering algorithm for pronoun resolution (Brennan et al., 1987) in terms of optimality theory (OT). Although the limitations of centering for pronoun resolution are well known, the algorithm's restatement in OT highlights the strengths of centering and produces an algorithm whose behavior is more transparent to the developer. The authors' motivation f...

In animals, ventral stroking for >5 days increases oxytocin (OT) activity and decreases blood pressure (BP), but related human studies are few. Thus, relationships between self-reported frequency of partner hugs, plasma OT and BP levels were examined in 59 premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands/partners ending with hugs. Higher baseline OT before partner contact w...

BACKGROUND Central oxytocin (OT) is critically involved in mediating social bonding and protecting against stress, depression, and anxiety. In animal models, early social experiences induce changes in central OT systems. In humans, early parental separation (EPS) increases the risk for emotional disorders in adulthood. We examined neuroendocrine responses to intranasal OT administration in men ...

The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin (OT), which controls childbirth and lactation, receives increasing attention for its effects on social behaviors, but how it reaches central brain regions is still unclear. Here we gained by recombinant viruses selective genetic access to hypothalamic OT neurons to study their connectivity and control their activity by optogenetic means. We found axons of ...

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is associated with a plethora of social behaviors, and is a key topic at the intersection of psychology and biology. However, tools for measuring OT are still not fully developed. We describe a robust nano liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS) platform for measuring the total amount of OT in human plasma/serum. OT binds strongly to plasma proteins, b...

The neurohypophysial peptide oxytocin (OT) and OT-like hormones facilitate reproduction in all vertebrates at several levels. The major site of OT gene expression is the magnocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei. In response to a variety of stimuli such as suckling, parturition, or certain kinds of stress, the processed OT peptide is released from the poste...