Oxytocin’s trust inducing properties have been widely documented in recent years, earning the hormone the tag of the ‘Trust Hormone’. However, where there is trust, there is always the potential for the abuse of trust, and some people have expressed concerns that it is only a matter of time before oxytocin will be used by [...]
Paul Zakon has been studying oxytocin for over 10 years, and in particular the relationship that the ‘trust hormone’ has with our moral behaviour. He’s come to the conclusion that oxytocin is central to our sense of fair play – guiding our ability to trust others whilst controlling our natural inclination ‘not to be taken [...]
Researchers have discovered that the levels of oxytocin the bloodstream of a newly smitten couple can predict how long their relationship will last – six months after the initial testing, couples with the highest recorded oxtycoin at the beginning of the experiment tended to be more likely to be still together. The researchers concluded that [...]
Professor Paul Zak gives a TED lecture talk on the relationship between oxytocin and trust and morality. He explains how oxytocin is essential to a civilised and stable society. Many intelligent people are hopeful that oxytocin could help to make the world a better place. It lies at the heart of what makes us moral, [...]
Oxytocin spray may be used to successfully treat at least some forms of social anxiety, according to researchers at Concorida University. The researchers say that the naturally occuring drug oxytocin, if taken intranasally in the form of a spray, gave participants in the study a better developed sense of self-perception. The research subjects were asked [...]
Those people possessing the oxytocin receptor genes linked to social traits such as empathy and sociability can be spotted by complete strangers within 20 seconds, according to research published last week. The researchers had volunteers view video recordings of social interactions of people who had been tested to see whether they had the genes linked [...]
The possible health benefits and medical uses of oxytocin seems unending. A study this month has claimed that the hormone spray could even be used to treat those suffering from depression. According to Dr. Ziad Nahas, a researcher at the Medical School of South Carolina, when depressed subjects inhaled the hormone, their brain activity began [...]
The emotional bonding properties of the ‘cuddle hormone’ oxytocin may be used as a treatment to help shy people improve their social skills according to researchers. The study, conducted at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Israel, as well as Columbia University, indicated that oxytocin could improve awkwardness in people who are shy, although [...]
A Dutch university study published last week found that oxytocin spray can promote ‘protective altruism’ between unrelated individuals who see themselves as belonging to the same group. The researchers discovered that oxytocin appears to strengthen feelings of solidarity and protectiveness amongst the ‘in group’ whilst increasing suspicion and hostility to the percieved ‘out group’. The [...]
A popular name for oxytocin is the ‘cuddle hormone’, on account of the role that oxytocin plays in social bonding and feelings of empathy with others. A simple hug between partners, friends, or relatives, is known to raise oxytocin levels. Now a study into the effects of oxytocin has found that a mother’s phone call [...]
