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Open Thread: Oxytocin Junkies

by Anne Laurie

From an otherwise unremarkable NYTimes article on peer-to-peer rentals:

... Paul J. Zak, director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California, says… he conducted a preliminary experiment indicating that posting messages on Twitter caused the release of oxytocin, a neurotransmitter that evokes feelings of contentment and is thought to help induce a sense of positive social bonding. He is now testing those ideas in research on a group of 40 people.

The social interaction “reduces stress hormones, even through the Web,” he says. “You’re feeling a real physiological relationship to that person, even if they are online.”

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September 1, 2010 4:08 pm Posted in: Open Thread  54 Comments

54 Responses

  1. Jamie - September 1, 2010 | 4:09 pm · Link

    I’m still not gonna twitter

  2. licensed to kill time - September 1, 2010 | 4:10 pm · Link

    This thread isn’t about Rush? Oh, oxytocin !

  3. danimal - September 1, 2010 | 4:16 pm · Link

    What about the effects of posting to BJ?

    Ahhhhhh, feel more connected already.

  4. Belafon (formerly anonevent) - September 1, 2010 | 4:19 pm · Link

    @danimal: I was going to say that he hasn’t bothered to look at BJ. If he comes here, he’ll throw the research away and become a monk.

  5. Loneoak - September 1, 2010 | 4:23 pm · Link

    Is that why DougJ frequents WaPo chats?

  6. Lynne - September 1, 2010 | 4:24 pm · Link

    So, researchers found out that people use Twitter because the people who use Twitter enjoy using it and possibly feel connected to people they talk to. Somehow these results seem a bit anti-climactic.

  7. Stooleo - September 1, 2010 | 4:25 pm · Link

    NYC community center is finally doing some PR.

  8. AnotherBruce - September 1, 2010 | 4:26 pm · Link

    @danimal:

    Oh fuck off!

  9. BGinCHI - September 1, 2010 | 4:27 pm · Link

    Is Twitter a synonym for masturbation?

  10. fasteddie9318 - September 1, 2010 | 4:32 pm · Link

    @BGinCHI:

    Is Twitter a synonym for masturbation?

    According to John Hodgman’s last book, “PowerPointing” is the term you’re looking for.

  11. Mike Kay (Team America) - September 1, 2010 | 4:34 pm · Link

    remember the halcyon days when DKos used to be described as crack for liberals.

  12. Gravenstone - September 1, 2010 | 4:34 pm · Link

    How many other people read the title as Oxycontin?

    /raises hand

  13. martha - September 1, 2010 | 4:40 pm · Link

    @Gravenstone: me too

  14. Roger Moore - September 1, 2010 | 4:41 pm · Link

    @danimal:

    What about the effects of posting to BJ?

    I expect it to raise levels of epinephrine and other stress hormones.

  15. That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN) - September 1, 2010 | 4:42 pm · Link

    @Mike Kay (Team America): I need crack to keep up with what the new crack is.

  16. kdaug - September 1, 2010 | 4:43 pm · Link

    @Roger Moore: Only when the jackals disagree with you.

  17. That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN) - September 1, 2010 | 4:44 pm · Link

    Well, I’m going to be $10,000 lighter in the bank account, but at least my toilet was only out of service for about eight hours, rather than the three days they originally estimated.

  18. Mike Kay (Team America) - September 1, 2010 | 4:44 pm · Link

    coincidentally, Tiger Woods had to check into rehab because he could stop playing with his twitter.

  19. Chad N Freude - September 1, 2010 | 4:52 pm · Link

    I’ve been wondering why I bother to post comments here.

  20. Chad N Freude - September 1, 2010 | 4:54 pm · Link

    @Lynne: But it’s biochemistry!

  21. asdf - September 1, 2010 | 4:54 pm · Link

    I am looking forward to an unlimited supply of hillbilly heroin. They are going to cut my feet off someday soon. What do I have to look forward to, sex?

  22. Mnemosyne - September 1, 2010 | 4:58 pm · Link

    Very sad news: Cedric the Tasmanian devil had to be put to sleep after he caught the contagious cancer that is killing the species off. He had shown some immunity to it that made scientists hopeful, but no such luck. Back to square one.

  23. Cat - September 1, 2010 | 4:59 pm · Link

    Ecoterrist takes Discovery Channel hostage

    Lone nut or part of a liberal conspiracy. Just sayin…

  24. bobbo - September 1, 2010 | 5:02 pm · Link

    I just heard a NYTimes reporter on Fresh Air saying that getting emails releases dopamine in the brain, and that while a little makes us feel good, a constant release of dopamine makes us depressed. So I think it’s a wash. (Or maybe the constant release of oxytocin also makes us depressed, in which case I predict everyone on Twitter will commit suicide.)

  25. Chad N Freude - September 1, 2010 | 5:06 pm · Link

    @bobbo: A lot of the emails I get are really depressing. Is their something amiss with my biochem?

  26. Anoniminous - September 1, 2010 | 5:07 pm · Link

    @Lynne:

    The fact people who enjoy doing something self-reward by doing what it is that enjoy doing is a mind-blowing finding for economists. For anyone over the intellectual age of 16 – which excludes 98% of economists – it’s a NS, S moment and then we move on to something giving greater intellectual stimulation.

    Like re-runs of Scooby-Doo.

  27. beltane - September 1, 2010 | 5:08 pm · Link

    @Gravenstone: I thought the same thing. Is there any information on which particular online community produces hashish-like effects? Is there a hallucinogenic website out there?

  28. J sub D - September 1, 2010 | 5:08 pm · Link

    http://www.aolnews.com/nation/.....3%7C167783

    A man upset with the Discovery Channel’s environmental programming took several people hostage at gunpoint at the company’s headquarters Wednesday while wearing canisters strapped to his body, officials said.
    ...
    A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities have identified James J. Lee as the likely suspect.
    ...
    At the trial, The Gazette of Montgomery County reported, he said he began working to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego. He said he was inspired by “Ishmael,” a novel by environmentalist Daniel Quinn and by former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

    Thank Odin he isn’t one of those wacko tea partiers.

    ETA - Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

  29. Mnemosyne - September 1, 2010 | 5:11 pm · Link

    @J sub D:

    That’s already being discussed in the thread below. Please try to keep up.

  30. kommrade reproductive vigor - September 1, 2010 | 5:11 pm · Link

    Um. Yeah. Wake me up when he a) Does a study with a MUCH larger group of people that involves two separate groups: Twitters & Talkers.

  31. Anoniminous - September 1, 2010 | 5:14 pm · Link

    @bobbo:

    I just heard a NYTimes reporter on Fresh Air saying that getting emails releases dopamine in the brain …

    (whimper)

    Yes. The brain releases dopamine when reading email. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter for Working Memory … like, ya know, so you remember the first half of the sentence you have read when actively reading the last half?

    This, in my opinion, is rather useful?

    (Neurojournalism. jesus god & his little brother sid, get me the fuck off this planet o’ stupid.)

  32. J sub D - September 1, 2010 | 5:17 pm · Link

    @Gravenstone:

    How many other people read the title as Oxycontin?

    /raises hand
    Sheepishly admits it.

  33. Linda Featheringill - September 1, 2010 | 5:17 pm · Link

    And we follow this blog because . . . . ?

  34. Comrade Mary - September 1, 2010 | 5:17 pm · Link

    Twitter / oxytocin / bonding / breastfeeding / Titter—aww, hell, could someone else please build this joke? Long day, fried neurons.

  35. Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther - September 1, 2010 | 5:17 pm · Link

    You know what else makes you feel all warm and fuzzy?

    Obsessing about the direct talks between Israel and Palestine!

    No, not really. But if you’re interested, this being an Open Thread and all, I’ve waxed all angsty about it over at my place:

    So. Israel, Palestine, direct talks    .

  36. kdaug - September 1, 2010 | 5:19 pm · Link

    @That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): $10 wha-huh? What, did it blow out the side of your abode?

    I just spent $30.00 (note the decimal point) to replace all of the non-ceramic pieces of my toilet. True, I did it myself. True, it was a giant pain in the ass. True, I had to resort to a detached hacksaw blade when the WD-40/Liquid Wrench route failed.

    But ten grand on a frakin’ toilet? Next time, call me. I’ll take care of it for, say, eight grand.

  37. J sub D - September 1, 2010 | 5:21 pm · Link

    @Mnemosyne: @Mnemosyne:

    That’s already being discussed in the thread below. Please try to keep up.

    Sorry, I don’t live here. Thanks for the heads up.

  38. Xecky Gilchrist - September 1, 2010 | 5:24 pm · Link

    There’s also a feeling of satisfaction associated with releasing a long-pent-up fart. Coincidence?

  39. Linda Featheringill - September 1, 2010 | 5:29 pm · Link

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:

    Israel-Palestine talks:

    If somebody doesn’t solve the water problem in that part of the world, no peace treaty will be worth the paper it is written on.

    The problem is more complex than dividing up the Jordan River. That part of the world already makes more demands on the water system that the system can provide, and things are likely to get worse in the future.

    I’d like to see some water desalination plants stretched across the eastern end of the Mediterranean. Maybe even solar powered. And yes, there are ecological issues to be dealt with.

    But really, just increase the water supply.

  40. asdf - September 1, 2010 | 5:32 pm · Link

    Wow.
    If you ever want to know who you are, who you really are, just ask me.

  41. Martin - September 1, 2010 | 5:32 pm · Link

    posting messages on Twitter caused the release of oxytocin, a neurotransmitter that evokes feelings of contentment and is thought to help induce a sense of positive social bonding.

    Odd. Drinking whisky made from urine gives me the same sensation.

  42. scav - September 1, 2010 | 5:42 pm · Link

    aaah, well, actually I think I read it as oxytoxin which seemed an odd thing to name something that made you happy, although I guess killing off brain cells using alcohol might indicate otherwise.

  43. That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN) - September 1, 2010 | 5:54 pm · Link

    @kdaug:

    $10 wha-huh? What, did it blow out the side of your abode?

    Oh, no. The leak was pretty standard. The fitting where the pipe from the kitchen joined the pipe from the bathroom rotted out and needed replacing. Simple, really. Or, it would have been, had that particular joint not been exactly halfway between the ceiling of the first floor and the floor of the second, behind both stacks from the toilets and under one of the support beams for the house. When the plumber came over to find the leak, he had to cut four holes in the wall upstairs and one downstairs before he could even see it.

    At least, for my money, they’re rerouting all of this plumbing so that, should anything go wrong again, it will all be accessible. As well, they’re replacing the entire length of both stacks and much of the kitchen plumbing, thus easing my worries about the condition of the pipes.

  44. El Cid - September 1, 2010 | 6:11 pm · Link

    Situation resolved:

    SILVER SPRING, Md. – Police shot and killed a man upset with the Discovery Channel network’s programming who took two employees and a security officer hostage at the company’s headquarters Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely.

    Police spent several hours negotiating with the gunman, who was upset about the network’s programming, after he burst into the suburban Washington building about 1 p.m. waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his body.

    Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said one explosive device detonated on the gunman’s body when they shot him, and they were working to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks he also had with him were explosives. The 1,900 people who work in the building were able to get out safely…

    ...At the trial [for protests he paid for in 2008], The Gazette of Montgomery County reported, he said he began working to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego. He said he was inspired by “Ishmael,” a novel by environmentalist Daniel Quinn and by former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

    A lengthy posting which could be seen Wednesday on a website registered to Lee expressed anger against the Discovery Channel and said it promoted overpopulation.

    He said it and its affiliates should stop “encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants.” Instead, he said, the network should air “programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility.”

    “NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis,” he wrote.

    He also railed against “programs promoting War” and said solutions should be found for global warming and automotive and factory pollution.

    “I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so,” he wrote. “I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it.”

    He will be portrayed 24/7 on the RW wurlitzer as a terrorist liberal.

  45. kdaug - September 1, 2010 | 6:13 pm · Link

    @That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): OK, that sounds a lot closer to a $10K job. Just remember – PVC is your friend.

  46. bobbo - September 1, 2010 | 6:18 pm · Link

    @Anoniminous:

    Yes. The brain releases dopamine when reading email. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter for Working Memory … like, ya know, so you remember the first half of the sentence you have read when actively reading the last half? This, in my opinion, is rather useful?

    Okay, but he was talking specifically about the moment you hear the “ding” in your inbox to alert you that an email has come in. Anyway, why the snark? What did I ever do to you?

  47. That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN) - September 1, 2010 | 6:24 pm · Link

    @kdaug: Actually, it sounds like about a $4,000 job, but they’re plumbers, so you have to multiply everything by 2.5.

  48. That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN) - September 1, 2010 | 6:24 pm · Link

    @bobbo:

    Anyway, why the snark? What did I ever do to you?

    You were wrong. On the internet.

  49. Maude - September 1, 2010 | 6:36 pm · Link

    @That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
    And you are right about the websites loading. I’ve been cursing with this.

  50. Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther - September 1, 2010 | 6:37 pm · Link

    @Linda Featheringill: I think the only real answer has to be changing habits, as hard as that is to do.

    Here’s a talk I once gave about the Jordan River Valley http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wo.....f-a-river/ and here’s a link to Friends of the Earth Middle East (to whom I often mistakenly refer as Friends of the Middle Earth!) and their thoughts on desalination (at least with regards to the Red Sea): http://foeme.org/www/?module=p.....ject_id=51 (Generally, they’re a great source on all manner of water and environment issues in the region).

  51. kdaug - September 1, 2010 | 6:41 pm · Link

    @That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Nah, plumbers aren’t the ones who are going to fix the five holes in the walls that it took to diagnose the problem. The apparent “overrun” is from the drywall/plaster/painter subs.

  52. Anoniminous - September 1, 2010 | 6:54 pm · Link

    @bobbo:

    My comment was directed at the NY Times journalist, not you. You were merely collateral damage from the incontinent ordinance of my snark attack.

    :-D

  53. J sub D - September 1, 2010 | 7:03 pm · Link

    @El Cid:

    He will be portrayed 24/7 on the RW wurlitzer as a terrorist liberal.

    Yeah, he will be. If he had been a limited government fanatic, how would he be portrayed in the media? A terrorist libertarian? A terrorist teabagger?

    Nah. Rachel Maddow and Keith Olberman would never stoop so low. They’d merely be claiming that the Koch brothers or Sarah Palin has blood on their hands.

    Face it, when the political talking heads get to mud wrestling in the sty, they all get filthy and they all look foolish.

    Go Team Red!
    Go Team Blue!

  54. Xanthippas - September 1, 2010 | 11:39 pm · Link

    I love you guys! No, really!

    (No, really. This is true. I’m sad when people I like unfollow me on Twitter.)


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