Football and Love

If Thanksgiving week for you means watching football then this article I read today about  exercise and the "love hormone," oxytocin should be of interest.  A study published in 2010 about soccer players found that during a shot out when a player scored and expressed joy and enthusiam the subsequent players were more likely to score as well.  Since it is impractical to draw blood from players in the middle of a game to test their oxytocin levels scientists have studied exercising voles.  They found after exercise the voles had more oxytocin in their blood and were more likely to mate than the non exercising voles.  What's all this got to do with football.  Well if you watch you know the celebrating the players do after a good play.  The theory is that the grandstanding triggers oxytocin in all the players on that team and that in turn can make them play better.  Even the fans can have oxytocin rushes when their team does well.  So may your team win!