Will science give women what they really want in a man?
A nasal spray can bring men in touch with their feminine side, reports the Journal of Neuroscience. Will girls begin spraying their guys to make them caring? Or will perfumes soon be laced with oxytocin?
The team of German UK researchers found that inhaling the “cuddle hormone” oxytocin made men just as empathetic as women.
The study of 48 volunteers found the oxytocin spray boosted mens ability to learn from positive feedback. may be useful for boosting behaviour therapy in conditions such as schizophrenia reports the BBC.
Oxytocin is a naturally produced hormone, that triggers labour pains, isresponsible for bonding between mother and baby, and a woman to her lover.
Past research has found that Oxytocin Makes a Face in Memory Familiar, making social recognition possible. Oxytocin also modulates how we evaluate peoples facial expressions.
They found that inhaling the “cuddle hormone” oxytocin made men just as empathetic as women.
The hormone was given nasally because it quickly reaches the brain, said lead researcher Professor Keith Kendrick from Cambridge University.
In the first stage of the study, half received the spray while a second group received a placebo.
They were then shown photos of emotionally charged situations that included a crying child, a girl hugging her cat, and a grieving man.
When questioned themen who had the hormone spray had significantly higher level of empathy usually only seen in women.
A second experiment measured “socially motivated learning”.
The men undertook a difficult observation test and were shown an approving face if they got the answer right and an unhappy face if they got it wrong.
While, people generally learn faster when they get positive feedback, those who had taken the oxytocin responded even better than the placebo group.
“The bottom line is it improved the ability of people to learn when they had positive feedback and that is pretty important because this might help improve the effectiveness of behavioural therapy or even be useful in people with learning difficulties” said Professor Kendrick.
Oxytocin may help people with reduced social approachability and social withdrawal such as schizophrenia and autism.
“This study is the latest of several that suggest that intranasal oxytocin seems to ‘sensitise’ people to become more aware of social cues from other individuals” said Professor Gareth Leng Edinburgh University who described the tests as cleverly designed.
“This study is the latest of several that suggest that intranasal oxytocin seems to ‘sensitise’ people to become more aware of social cues from other individuals – and more likely to be sympathetic to them” he said.
So will chemical coocktails be used to socially engineer the male?
Personally, I hope men can learn to be more socially responsible without chemicals.
Or is that too much to ask?
