Oxytocin and the pace of life history strategies: From evolutionary trade-offs to translational pathways

Abstract

Several constructive models have been offered to explain the diverse social behavioral effects of oxytocin. Here, we consider the physiological and behavioral effects of oxytocin from the perspective of life history theory, expanding upon previous suggestions that oxytocin may bias organisms towards slower life history strategies that involve increased investment in parental effort and somatic maintenance, along with decreased investment in mating effort. According to the model, safe environments epigenetically upregulate oxytocin signaling, which supports parental caregiving and physiological investments that slow senescence, thereby increasing longevity and enabling continued investment in parental care. Conversely, organisms respond adaptively to dangerous environments by decreasing oxytocin signaling and adopting faster life history strategies that prioritize mating effort at the expense of parenting effort and maintenance. The conclusion that oxytocin slows life history strategies can be used to promote healthy aging by encouraging a range of behaviors that are known to increase oxytocin signaling, including exercise, physical intimacy, social connection, and caregiving. In summary, we propose that oxytocin signaling represents an evolved developmental mechanism that biases energy allocation toward sustained parental and pair-bonding investments, somatic maintenance, and stable affiliative networks, hallmarks of a slow life history strategy.

Keywords: Aging; Epigenetics; Life history theory; Longevity; Oxytocin.