/oss/taxonomy/term/5874/all en /oss/article/history-general-science/want-cuddle-personality-likely-get-you-further-oxytocin <p>Why do people cuddle? According to a slew of media reports, that answer lies in oxytocin, dubbed either the “cuddle chemical” or the “love hormone.” English pharmacologist and neurophysiologist Sir Henry Hallett Dale was the first to isolate oxytocin from pituitary extract in 1921, eventually receiving the 1936 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for the discovery. Dale’s work on oxytocin was prompted by his interest in the ergot fungus, extracts of which had a long history of use for stimulating the contractions of the pregnant uterus. The question was why.</p> Fri, 10 Dec 2021 21:34:54 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8948 at /oss