Word: oxytocin
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...effects of oxytocin nasal spray are not limited to those with autism either. In studies by Paul Zak, director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies in Claremont, Calif., small doses of inhaled oxytocin spray reduced anxiety and wariness of strangers in healthy volunteers; in one trial, the hormone made people feel more generous and trusting with their money...
...oxytocin-deficient among us, the hormone is commercially available on the Internet - new mothers sometimes use it to trigger the release of breast milk (and nearly half of all women who give birth in the U.S. intravenously receive Pitocin, a commercial version of oxytocin, to induce labor). But some entrepreneurs are already touting oxytocin as a shyness cure. One website hawks a "trust elixir," an oxytocin-laced perfume that its manufacturers say will make its wearers seem more trustworthy to others - and vice versa...
...works - products like these aren't classified as drugs, so they aren't evaluated by the FDA - but, at least in theory, it ought to make love, lust or trust bloom a little faster. That's not unlike the drug ecstasy, which triggers the release of serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin in the brain and heightens users' feelings of trust and intimacy, even among complete strangers. Concerns that oxytocin might be similarly abused as a recreational drug seem unfounded, however, given that the hormone doesn't produce a high, says zoologist Sue Carter of the University of Illinois at Chicago...
...Oxytocin may be something of a wonder compound, spurring childbirth and creating love, but it's not exactly a performance enhancer and certainly not a cure-all - not for shyness or autism, or any other social dysfunction. "The nervous system is not just oxytocin. There are many other hormones that might be just as important as oxytocin that haven't been identified yet," Carter says. "A piece of social support is oxytocin. That doesn't mean that oxytocin alone equals social support...
...shot of oxytocin is what you want, there are other, more natural ways to boost the hormone's production. Massage, petting a dog, even eating food with a friend can trigger the chemical's release, says Zak. So can sensorimotor, or "mind-body," therapies, like breathing exercises and yoga, which help people cope with their emotions by controlling their body's physical reaction to stress and fear. "We should look at other ways to juice the system without having to put two spoons of liquid up your nose every four hours," Zak says...