What do we know about oxytocin in a few words?
“Oxytocin is a hormone, sometimes called the hormone of bonding also, the hormone of love.”
Logically, whenever we communicate with our loved ones, our friend, or simply someone who we are glad to talk to via typing – we are establishing connection, A.K.A. a bond.
The next question is: does typing affect the production of oxytocin in our body?
If so – then it might be possible to use typing as an occupational therapy, isn’t it?
Suggested fact would also explain, in what sense the “touch typists are different”: not only because they have received a formal certification and training, but because their actions are more confident and are actively supported on the hormone level. This ultimately improves the reaction times, and helps staying focused and alert.
Ultimately, typing, coupled with the benefits of communication therapy, might become the means for non-invasive therapy for depression and various mood disorders.
“Oxytocin significantly enhanced the pupil dilation response for all facial expressions presented. Pupil dilation has been successfully used as an index of interest, attention allocation or cognitive load (Hess and Polt, 1960; Kahneman and Beatty, 1966; Laeng et al., 2012).”
With all this in mind, it might be possible to monitor connections between:
“ …pupils dilate because your body releases higher levels of endorphins and adrenaline, which stimulate the nerves that control your pupil size“
TYPING – LEVELS OF OXYTOCIN – PUPIL DILATION , and this is substantial to our research of ways to detect the benefits of the touch-typing.
Eureca ! This will be our next project… Stay tuned.
P.S. Linking typing with oxytocin is somewhat bold statement. A more reliable indictor for us would be finding a link between typing and “attention allocation or cognitive load”.
Besides, it is not only the oxytocin, but all other endorphins, which also participate in the equation.
P.S. More information on the “feel-good” hormones has been disclosed in this post from Harvard Medical School:
#FEELGOOD HORMONES