Oxytocin Release Increases With Age and Is Associated With Life Satisfaction and Prosocial Behaviors

Abstract

Helping behaviors and life satisfaction generally increase after middle-age. Identifying the neural substrates of prosocial behaviors in older adults may offer additional insights into these changes over the lifespan. The present study examines the endogenous release of the neuromodulator oxytocin (OT) in participants aged 18–99 and its relationship to prosocial behaviors. OT has been shown to influence trust, altruism, charity, and generosity, yet the effect of age on OT release has not been well-established. Blood samples before and after a video stimulus were obtained from 103 participants in order to examine the impact of OT on prosocial behaviors. We found that OT release following a social prime increased with age (r = 0.49, p = 0.001) and that OT moderated the relationship between age and donations to charity. We tested for robustness by examining three additional prosocial behaviors, money and goods donated to charity during the past year and social-sector volunteering. OT moderated the impact of age on all three prosocial behaviors (ps < 0.05). The analysis also showed that participants’ change in OT was positively associated with satisfaction with life (p = 0.04), empathic concern (p = 0.015), dispositional gratitude (p = 0.019), and religious commitment (p = 0.001). Our findings indicate that the neural chemistry that helps sustain social relationships and live a fulfilled life appear to strengthen with age.

The relationship between oxytocin levels with empathy and breastfeeding intention in female medical students: A cross-sectional study

“…Students aged 21 years had higher serum oxytocin levels than those in the <21 years age group. Older people have higher serum oxytocin levels compared to other age groups [ 29 ].…”

The ABC Model of Happiness—Neurobiological Aspects of Motivation and Positive Mood, and Their Dynamic Changes through Practice, the Course of Life

“…Functionally embedded within the parasympathetic autonomous nervous system, the assertive motivational state is linked to increased parasympathetic or vagus nerve activity and is therefore associated with a physio-psychological down-regulation, and states of relaxation [ 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ]. At the level of neurotransmitter systems, assertive salience is associated with endogenous opiates, oxytocin, acetylcholine, serotonin, as well as endocannabinoid signaling [ 7 , 12 , 20 , 69 , 74 , 75 , 76 ]. Unlike approach and avoidance motivation systems, the assertion motivation system is not characterized by an involvement of dopamine—instead, it is linked to the absence or inhibition of dopaminergic activation.…”

“…The latter is also called wisdom or generativity, and it has an important sociobiological function [ 89 , 104 , 105 ]. In this aspect, the “we” (as opposed to the “me”) and a deep, cross-generational connection are expressed, as evidenced also by neurobiological findings (e.g., on oxytocin, with higher levels in old age [ 20 , 76 ], or on generosity and happiness [ 21 ]).…”

“…In this article, we establish a connection between the various sub-forms of happiness (as well as the overarching concept of happiness as an umbrella term) and its neurobiological correlates—as well as the different manifestations of happiness derived from them, and different ways of measuring them (cf., among others, [ 7 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 73 ]). These can be analyses of receptor density or receptor activity in the identified regions of the reward system, direct or indirect evidence of receptor binding of relevant neurotransmitters (see above and Figure 5 ), evidence of enzymes/enzyme activities for the formation of such transmitters—or their direct evidence (or their metabolites) in body fluids such as liquor, plasma, saliva, sweat, etc.…”

“…It has a biomolecular basis yet is used for autoregulation and survival (of the individual and of the species) [ 5 , 7 , 12 , 16 , 17 ]. Happiness can thus be measured (e.g., in the brain, blood; see below) and is associated with biophysiological changes in the body [ 7 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. At its core, happiness, as is the case with the entire body (the living organism), is dynamic by nature and is subject to cyclical or internal “maturation processes” (see below).…”