Research highlights

In the news
Trust In oxytocin

The neuropeptide oxytocin is released

during childbirth, suckling, touch and
orgasm, suggesting that it might have
a pro-social function. This idea was
strengthened by a recent study in
Nature, which showed that an
oxytocin nasal spray caused people
playing a trust game to retain their
trust in a stranger who was looking
after their money, even though this
trust was violated on many occasions.
At the same time, the oxytocin spray
decreased activity in the amygdala
and the caudate nucleus, brain areas
that are involved in the regulation of
fear and decision making, respectively.
We now know what exactly is
going on in the brain when oxytocin
increases trust, says lead researcher
Thomas Baumgartner of the
University of Zrich, Switzerland. It
seems to diminish our fears. (BBC
News, 21 May 2008.) As humans are
typically averse to taking social risks,
...a little bit of oxytocin may
facilitate carrying on relationships
with others, according to Mauricio
Delgado, a neuroscientist at Rutgers
University in Newark, New Jersey.
(ScienceNOW, 21 May 2008.)
How people in real-life situations
develop and retain trust in others is
another question, however. They
certainly dont do it by spraying stuff
up each others noses, says Paul Zak
of the Center for Neuroeconomics
Studies at Claremont Graduate
University in California. (Science
News, 21 May 2008.)
Nevertheless, the findings have
implications for understanding
mental disorders in which deficits in
social behaviour are observed and
...could provide a bridge for
potential clinical applications, thinks
Delgado (BBC News). An oxytocin
spray might help people with a social
phobia or autism. Autistic people
also have a fear of social situations
and have problems interacting, so it is
very likely that oxytocin could help,
says Baumgartner. This hormone
seems to play a very specific role in
social situations so might be able to
improve autism. (BBC News.)
Leonie Welberg

nature reviews | neuroscience volume 9 | july 2008

2008 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.