Building trust via nasal spray

[arikara]

Shakespeare told us to "love all, trust a few," even to "trust none, for oaths are straws." Despite such warnings, trust has always been at the centre of all human dealings -- romantic, commercial, or political -- even if the reasons for it have been murky.

But now Swiss researchers say they have finally isolated the secret: In oxytocin, we trust.

University students who inhaled the hormone in a nasal spray were discovered to be far more trusting of one another -- eager, in fact, to hand over money to strangers in investment deals.

The results suggest trust can be bottled and used to forge commercial relationships. Oxytocin levels have long been known to spike with sexual climax or influence the production of mothers' milk, but the new study suggests they are also "the biological basis of trust among humans."

<snip>

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050602/TRUST02/TPHealth/

[atommom]

1. Could be useful for patients with autism or attachment disorder...

but I shudder to think what the business world and/or the Republicans would do with this if they could! :scared:

[Shrubhater]

2. I side with you 100% n/t

[anotherdrew]

19. do with it if they could?

I'd bet money they've been spaying something very similar into the air in malls and such for many years.

[VegasWolf]

3. Fat Rush Limbaugh discovered its corollary; in oxycontin I trust. n/t

[PassingFair]

4. Aren't females overloaded with this stuff?

I don't think that we are intrinsically more trusting than males....
Anyone?

[atommom]

5. Not all the time ... oxytocin levels increase at certain times, such

as during sexual activity, or when bonding with infants. We aren't always brimming with it, fortunately, or we'd be a bunch of patsies. ;)

[salminen]

7. I don't think all the time

My understanding is that it's primarily released around childbirth. It also has other effects related to childbirth like starting lactation and facilitating stronger contraction of the uterine muscles. Traditionally, it's been said to 'increase maternal behavior' in mammals. There was some other study earlier where by injecting oxytocin into mice, they could get them to take on maternal responsibilities for other mice that were not their own. The theory is that this study explains how it increases maternal behavior- by increasing trust.

So, no, I wouldn't generally say that women are more trusting than men, but I think I would be willing to believe that women are more trusting for a couple of months after childbirth.

[PassingFair]

8. I read somewhere that the mere presence of children

especially babies, can raise oxytocin levels in women, men too, to a lesser degree.
Will have to check, but I think there's a BIG difference between male and female on this.

[VegasWolf]

11. I think you are right, follow the link for Oxytocin --

http://www.oxytocin.org/oxytoc/

"The hormone best known for its role in inducing labor may influence our ability to bond with others, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
In a preliminary study, the hormone oxytocin was shown to be associated with the ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people. The study appears in the July issue of Psychiatry.

"This is one of the first looks into the biological basis for human attachment and bonding," said Rebecca Turner, PhD, UCSF adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study. "Our study indicates that oxytocin may be mediating emotional experiences in close relationships."

All for 100 bucks a 50 ml bottle.

[atommom]

6. Another thought .... wouldn't the military be eager to use this on

prisoners, to help extract information? Again, it wouldn't be ethical, but it's no less ethical than what they're currently doing to their prisoners.

[salminen]

9. the danger is it's potential efficacy

I definitely agree that it wouldn't be more unethical than actual torture, but the reality is that the reason they keep torture at least within some limits doesn't have much to do with ethics... They generally don't use torture because it's unreliable. If they find something unethical that actually works, I could see them adopting it's use far more broadly than they do torture. Even if it isn't as morally abhorent, the implications could end up being greater in the end if they were to use something like this much more often.

All that being said, the study was pretty tame. Increasing someone's confidence in an expert investor isn't exactly the same as increasing someone's trust for an interogator. Who knows though. The potential for abuse as a date rape drug or something might be the bigger risk.

[phoebe]

10. do they spray this stuff at the president's "town hall meetings"?

or does Cheney spray this on *??

[arikara]

13. I think they are all bathing it it

judging by the way their lies are swallowed up without question by the faithful.

[VegasWolf]

14. It's what makes the Kool Aid taste so good!!! n/t

[Jack_DeLeon]

12. So now we know the chemtrailers were just training mission...

wait till they start using the real thing.

[arikara]

15. I found this sentence to be the most sinister

The study already has some cynical scientists musing about whether political operatives will try to crop-dust crowds with oxytocin at rallies, whereas more hopeful researchers see the hormone as a potential boon in treating people with social phobias, or rare genetic disorders that cause children to trust everyone they meet.

I would not put anything past the bunch that holds power now.

[atommom]

16. Maybe, if it really works, we can actually get the Iraqis to bring us

flowers... I agree, I wouldn't put anything past these people.

[PassingFair]

17. Tin Foil Hat Time!

Mrs. Grumpy and I were just kidding about something like this. Bizarre virus was going around here (Michigan), adults were coming down with sore throats that were going into ear problems. Visits to the doctor were rewarded with FREE sprayers of Flonase. By the TRUCKLOAD.
EVERYONE had them. You could smell it on people (smelled like honeysuckle). We had a good laugh over our "theory" of inhaled sedatives.
:woohoo:

:freak:

[atommom]

18. That would have made a great X-Files episode!

(And yes, I know that smell well ... :P )

[anotherdrew]

20. THAT sounds very odd

very very odd. got any more reference info?

[arikara]

23. Lots of bizarre viruses going around here too

Upper respiratory, sore throats. I now have a box of kleenex in every room in the house and going through them like crazy. I don't have a cold, nor any allergies. Everyone is complaining of the same. No reference info just anecdotal.

[loudsue]

24. North Carolina, too.

But people are having all different kinds of symptoms.

My guess: Bush has cut back on the EPA to the point where every polluting company in the country is dumping all their toxins as fast as they can, and we're all unknowingly sucking it up our noses, or drinking it in our ground water.

Don't forget that he turned Texas into the NUMBER ONE polluted state in the union.

What a gem, that one, ey? (NOT!)

:kick::kick::kick:

[VegasWolf]

21. I'd rather be sprayed with Ecstasy. n/t

[foo_bar]

22. mmmm, soma

[Endangered Specie]

25. Sounds like another damn date-rape drug...

This day in age, not trusting anyone isnt a sickness, its WISDOM. WHat they need is something that does the opposite, people are too naive and sheepish, not the other way around.

[daleo]

26. Have a strong inhalation of Freedom Oxygen, fellow Bushonia citizen

Before heading into the voting booth. It will fortify your mind. You can trust me on this.