oxytocin also interacts with opioids. It is not an endorphin, but it increases the sensitivity of the brain’s opioid systems to endorphins—Nature’s way of making sure that we don’t develop a tolerance to our own opiates. (Remember that tolerance is the process by which an addict no longer feels the benefit of previously enjoyable doses of a drug and has to seek more and more.) Why is it essential to prevent tolerance to our natural reward chemicals? Because opioids are necessary for parental love. The infant’s well-being would be jeopardized if the mother became insensitive to the effects of
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