Nasal Spray May Make Men More Empathetic

Saturday, May 01, 2010
Jeremy Beadle showing empathy

Modern medicine may have found the answer for the insensitive jerk. Researchers in Germany and the United Kingdom claim it’s possible to make men more empathetic and caring by using a nasal spray which increases the level of oxytocin in the human body. Oxytocin, sometimes called the “cuddle hormone,” promotes bonding between mothers and their children, among other things. A study involving 48 men showed that those who received oxytocin attained levels of empathy normally associated with women only. It also showed that the spray boosted the men’s ability to learn from positive feedback.

-Noel Brinkerhoff
 
'Cuddle Hormone' Makes Men More Empathetic (by Emma Wilkinson, BBC News)
Oxytocin Improves “Mind-Reading” in Humans (by Gregor Domes, Markus Heinrichs, Andre Michel, Christoph Berger, and Sabine C. Herpertz, Biological Psychiatry) (pdf)

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