Trust me! I am a hormone

It could be the criminals’ dream drug — a hormone that makes people trust you.

Scientists in Switzerland and the United States have found that exposing people to the hormone Oxytocin makes them more willing to bond with others.The same people exposed to the hormone but faced with a computer did not show increased willingness to take risks.”Oxytocin specifically affects an individual’s willingness to accept social risks arising through interpersonal interactions,” they wrote in the science journal Nature.It is hardly surprising. Oxytocin — also known as the “cuddle” hormone — is released by both men and women at sexual orgasm, and the bloodstream levels have been shown to rise during massage but fall with recollection of a negative emotion.”We find that intranasal administration of Oxytocin causes a substantial increase in trusting behavior,” the scientists wrote. They added a warning:”Of course, this finding could be misused to induce trusting behaviors that selfish actors subsequently exploit.” (Source: Reuters Health, June 2005)