Oxytocin and Attachment Facilitate a Shift From Seeking Novelty to Recognizing and Preferring Familiarity: The Key to Increasing Resilience?

Abstract

Attachment can increase resilience in the face of stress and ward off addiction. We propose an underlying mechanism that is located in the interaction between oxytocinergic and dopaminergic systems. In the distinction between “wanting” and “liking,” it has been hypothesized that dopamine is involved in the “wanting” aspect of reactive reward processing. We propose that oxytocin and attachment play a main role in “liking” or stable appreciation. Ordinarily a reward increases the “liking” of the rewarding stimulus, while satiety decreases the “wanting” of that reward. However, continued drug use and stress will reduce liking and increase the wanting of drugs, even though the drug may no longer be pleasurable, and even though this addicted “wanting” state has no evolutionary benefit. By contrast, strong partner relationships show a progression from strong motivation to approaching and obtaining the partner (the “wanting” phase of being in love fueled by high levels of novelty) toward a steady high level of “liking” (attachment involving appreciation of familiarity). These parallel processes are relevant to resilience in that they may share a similar underlying mechanism. Oxytocin may be involved in shifting the balance between wanting and liking by facilitating consolidation of social information from reactive reward systems to “internal working models” that help to proactively select optimal actions for the future, thereby increasing resilience. Oxytocin may achieve its effects through dopaminergic, serotonergic, and endogenous opioid mechanisms.