rewards (Sarnyai and Kovács, 2014, Thompson et al., 2007, Leong et al., 2018), though the mechanism by which this occurs is still under investigation. Further, OXT has been shown to have potent anxiolytic properties and can reduce HPA-axis reactivity following acute stress (Dabrowska et al., 2011, Slattery and Neumann, 2010, Windle et al., 2006). Understandably, the ability of this nonapeptide to modulate both stress and motivational processes has generated growing interest in its potential as a much-needed therapeutic target for the treatment of alcohol and other substance use disorders (Bowen and Neumann, 2017, Lee et al., 2016, McGregor and Bowen, 2012).
