The connection between the heart and “love hormones”, such as oxytocin, extends beyond metaphor, as research suggests the heart not only responds to oxytocin but may also play a role in its release.
Beyond this, oxytocin may protect the heart, helping it repair itself and reducing inflammation after injury, such as during a heart attack.
This uncanny quality only reinforced superstitions that the heart was more than just a muscle and may explain why many early cultures viewed the heart as possessing a life force of its own.
Even today, heart transplants fuel questions about whether a transplanted heart carries something of its donor.
The heart is equipped with oxytocin receptors, and studies show that the hormone promotes vasodilation (widening of the blood vessels), reducing blood pressure and improving circulation.
