Oxytocin is my sticky tape, baby!

Via, Feministing may we present Dr. Eric Keroack, who may become President Bush's choice to oversee the Office of Family Planning.

Contained in this Word Document is a wealth of information about hypothalamic function. As many of you know, I agree with Dr Keroack's basic assertion on the supremacy of the hypothalamus in the central nervous system. It is our inner lizard and in a sense it is life. Viewed this way, the cortex is merely superfluous wrapping paper beholden to the power that is the hypothalamus. And so we come to the issue of oxytocin neurons located in the hypothalamus. As Keroack points out:

...oxytocin is released during positive social interaction, massage, hugs, “trust” encounters, and sexual intercourse. “It promotes bonding by reducing fear and anxiety in social settings, increasing trust and trustworthiness, reducing stress and pain, and decreasing social aggression."

Indeed. Never abuse the hypothalamus. If you use it, you lose it. You only got one shot, do not blow your oportunity:

Forty percent of couples who live together break up before they marry and of the 60 percent that do marry, 40 percent of them divorce after 10 years. [...] So why do so many adults continue in a cycle of sex without a marriage commitment, cohabitation, and failed relationships? This perpetual cycle of misery is due largely to the role of oxytocin. The following is Dr. Kerocak’s explanation of the cycle:

Emotional pain causes our bodies to produce an elevated level of endorphins which in turn lowers the level of oxytocin. Therefore, relationship failure leads to pain which leads to elevated endorphins which leads to lower oxytocin the result of which is a lower ability to bond. Many in this increased state of emotional pain and lower oxytocin seek sex as a substitute for love which inevitably leads to another failed relationship, and so, the cycle continues.

My theory is that each sexual encounter probably initiates programmed cell death in a single oxytocin neuron. We've only got about 8000 or so oxytocin neurons in our hypothalamus and once they're used up, that's it. Masturbate once, *poof* there goes another oxytocin neuron and you're down to 7,999. As Keroack elaborates:

People who have misused their sexual faculty and become bonded to multiple persons will diminish the power of oxytocin to maintain a permanent bond with an individual.

You take one too many rides on the carousel and you'll hear nature's little way of saying 'nuff's 'nuff. Oxytocin abuse can only contribute to increased stress, drug addiction and child abuse--things incompatible with stable fruitful marriages. Catholic.com explains this concept to their young readers thusly:

In more basic terms, sharing the gift of sex is like putting a piece of tape on another person's arm. The first bond is strong, and it hurts to remove it. Shift the tape to another person's arm and the bond will still work, but it will be easier to remove. Each time this is done, part of each person remains with the tape. Soon it is easy to remove because the residue from the various arms interferes with the tape's ability to stick. The same is true in relationships, where previous sexual experiences interfere with the ability to bond.

I ask you: do you want your tape to remain sticky through old age or are you willing to risk having hairy, flacid tape no one wants? The choice is yours.