Why Does Breastfeeding Leave You Feelin' Groovy?

We know that oxytocin is an essential hormone to breastfeeding successfully. It is also known to leave mom with a euphoric feeling. But why? What is it about this hormone that causes that great feeling? Researchers from China, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom think they have the answer.

Their study in the journal PLoS Computational Biology suggests that breastfeeding uses something in addition to normal brain cells when it comes to secreting oxytocin. It also calls upon dendrites to secrete the hormone. So while the neurons are talking to each other, a core of oxytocin production is formed, which causes little eruptions of the hormone to be discharged in consistent phases.

One of the researchers, Jianfeng Feng, of the University of Warwick in Coventry in the United Kingdom states, "We knew that these pulses arise because, during suckling, oxytocin neurons fire together in dramatic synchronized bursts. But exactly how these bursts arise has been a major problem that has until now eluded explanation." He also believes that these new findings may be able to explain other similar activities in the brain.