oxytocin

Noun

oxytocin (countable and uncountable, plural oxytocins)

1. A hormone that stimulates contractions during labor, and then the production of milk; also plays a role in social bonding.
   • Some women describe episodes of intense pleasure akin to orgasm during nursing. It would be interesting to know whether the release of oxytocin during suckling plays a role in this subjective feeling, as it may do in actual orgasm.1994, Simon LeVay, The Sexual Brain, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 67
   • MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, greatly increases feelings of empathy (and perhaps the actual capacity to perceive the emotions of others); one of the mechanisms (oxytocin release) is now becoming understood, […]2011, Mark A.R. Kleiman et al., Drugs and Drug Policy, Oxford University Press, →ISBN