Oxytocin’s dynamic role across the lifespan

Abstract

Older adults have been neglected in biobehavioral oxytocin research. Emerging research indicates that oxytocin signaling activity fluctuates over the lifespan, which suggests that results from studies investigating youth and young adults cannot be easily generalized to older adults. The recruitment of a wider age range of research participants using a variety of research tools is required to uncover the role of the oxytocin signaling system over the lifespan and may reveal novel treatment target candidates in older adults, beyond social cognition and behavior.

Keywords

• Oxytocin
• Aging
• Gene expression