La importancia de la oxitocina en el vínculo entre perros y personas

Abstract

Dadas las crecientes investigaciones acerca de las habilidades socio-cognitivas de los perros domésticos recientemente se renovó el interés hacia sus correlatos fisiológicos. Particularmente se está indagando en el papel de la oxitocina (OT), una neuro-hormona que modula las conductas afiliativas y socio-cognitivas de diversas especies. El objetivo del presente trabajo es realizar una revisión de los estudios sobre los efectos de la OT en las conductas socio-cognitivas en perros. Se analizarán los trabajos que miden OT endógena y los efectos de la administración exógena. Asimismo, se presentarán las posibles áreas de aplicación así como la dirección de futuras investigaciones en el área.

Given the growing investigation on the doghuman bond and sociocognitive skills of domestic dogs, the focus of research has recently been shifted towards its physiological correlates. Oxytocin (OT), a neuro-hormone that modulates affiliative and sociocognitive behaviors in a wide number of species, has received particular interest. The aim of this paper is to review studies which focus on the effects of OT on the socio-cognitive behaviors in dogs. These works were divided into investigations that measured endogenous and exogenous administration of OT. Several endogenous OT studies measure OT concentration in dogs using samples of blood, urine or saliva. In these studies, OT effects on affiliative interactions, mutual gazing and stressful situations were found. Physical contact and gazing were affiliative interactions which modulated the OT release. In addition, proximity and contact seeking were associated with OT release in stressful situations.