Scientists develop a 'trust spray'

Newindpress reports this story from the fields of science. Who cares about stem cells when we have hormones, huh?


LONDON - Using what are called love hormones, scientists claim to have developed a revolutionary nasal spray that will have the power to make a person more trusting.

A team of American and Swiss scientists has found that after a few spouts of the spray containing the hormone oxytocin, humans were significantly more trusting.

The team also suggested the spray could be used as a therapy for trust-diminishing conditions, such as autism or some social phobias, reported the Scottish daily ‘The Scotsman’. The research showed that after using the spray, volunteers became more willing to risk losing money to a stranger. Volunteers who sniffed oxytocin gave away their money much more easily.

Even animal studies have proved that oxytocin takes away the unwillingness to approach one another, "which is a parallel with trust in humans", said Michael Kosfeld, one of the scientists involved in the research. "Along with psychotherapy it could have a positive effect," he said.

Oxytocin is widely known as "love hormone", and is released during orgasm. It has also been proved to be released when cuddling or touching takes place, and women release it in labour and during breastfeeding.

After the experimentation, scientists have claimed to show that increasing the amount of the hormone present in the body could directly affect the trust factor.