Interplay between oxytocin and testosterone hormonal shift during fatherhood: A review article

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Review Paper 12/02/2025
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Interplay between oxytocin and testosterone hormonal shift during fatherhood: A review article

Mohamed Aalilil, Amit Jain, Mirza Masroor Ali Beg
Int. J. Biosci. 26(2), 241-248, February 2025.
Copyright Statement: Copyright 2025; The Author(s).
License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Abstract

The interplay between oxytocin and testosterone level depicted a considerable evidences that to use as background to examine the behavioral adaptations of male during the perinatal period. Oxytocin is evident as bonding hormone is the important for fostering social connection, responsiveness, and fostering behaviors while testosterone is usually associated with effectiveness, supremacy, and aggression. It has been revealed that the hormonal swing in men during their partner’s pregnancy and postnatal period suggested rise in oxytocin is linked with lower testosterone level. These changes likely to bring the caregiving behaviors, diminish aggression, and improve emotional connections with the newborn, presenting an evolutionary approach for cooperative parenting. Present review synthesizes endocrinology, anthropology, and psychology findings to explore the mechanisms driving these changes, their behavioral outcomes, and their implications for fatherhood. Furthermore, the article investigates, how these hormonal shifts shape paternal caregiving and influence family dynamics and compare them to similar arrangements in other species. By exploratory biological and societal dimensions, this work provides all-inclusive impression of the hormonal fundamentals of paternal behavior and neural shift during fatherhood.

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