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22-May-2008 : A nasal spray which increases our trust for strangers is showing promise as a treatment for social phobia, say scientists from Zurich University. The researchers found that people who inhaled the "love hormone" oxytocin continued to trust strangers with their money - even after they were betrayed.

Nicknamed the "cuddle chemical", oxytocin is a naturally produced hormone, which has been shown to play a role in social relations, maternal bonding, and also in sex. Oxytocin promotes romantic feels, makes people more socialable, and helps mothers bond with their babies. Researchers however, wonder if it might also be able to treat a wide range of personality disorders.

Whether in love, politics, family life or business, humans rely on trust to live together. Understanding what promotes trust can also be useful in treating mental problems associated with social dysfunctions, according to the researchers.

The results of a study, which appears in the science journal Neuron, showed the hormone lowered activity in the amygdala - a region which is overactive in social phobics. Drug trials are under way and early signs are promising say the scientists.
In the trials, the team, led by Thomas Baumgartner, a neuroeconomist and a neuroscientist, set up scenarios where subjects were called upon to trust another person in a deal that could work to their advantage - but only if the other person proved to be trustworthy.

Subjects who inhaled the hormone, which plays an important role in bonding, remained trusting even after having been let down. Professor Ernst Fehr explained to swissinfo the typical trust relationship upon which the experiments were based. "It's like I lend you money and you have a productive opportunity to use that money and, let's say, triple it. The agreement is that we then share the proceeds but we have no contract; it's all based on informal understanding."

Three years ago, the scientists discovered oxytocin stimulated trust in humans. They have now taken the research a stage further to show that the chemical messenger is also effective after trust has been broken.