Oxytocin & well-being as promoters of affect regulation and homeostasis: a neuroscientific review

Neurohormone oxytocin release affects mood and behavior in humans, regulating emotional and physiologic aspects.  Neuroscience associates well-being to oxytocin to characterize a general positive-valenced emotional state.  However, the terms well-being and oxytocin are absent, or present in a limited way, in most indexes of psychological terminology and health science descriptors.  This study aimed at studying how this association occurs in literature, based on a systematic review on oxytocin and well-being in the last five years.  Main results: the neuroscientific context seemed to be the most adequate to the study between oxytocin and well-being; association between psychological and neuroendocrine aspects was unusual; medical templates predominated over psychological references;  oxytocin release and feelings of well-being were associated to stimuli of the affective-sensorial type, to psychiatric interventions, to familiarity; results varied according to age, gender, context and personality.