Affective Neuroscience and the Discovery of Oxytocin

The progress of scientific knowledge allowed for the opening of the new field of affective neuroscience. Around 1950, researchers of animal psychology discovered a new class of neuroactive substances called peptides, or neuropeptides, whose role was to trigger affects and emotions, leading to a body reaction and eventually, generating an action—a body-mind phenomenon. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide, and, together with its twin brother vasopressin, have a fundamental role in the regulation of affects and body homeostasis, besides activating mechanisms for the care of offspring and governing mammals’ social life. The triangulation of data among brain functions, the generation of cognitive and affective substrates, and a corresponding behavioral outcome is a suggested template for the study of body-mind phenomena in affective neuroscience.