2008-02-29

Oxytocin -- The Mind Reading Hormone

A sniff of the hormone oxytocin, turns out to improve men's ability to read other people's emotions.
clipped from www.health-sky.com

The Hormone That Makes You Enter the Mind of the Others

clipped from www.popsci.com
clipped from www.health-sky.com

A new research led by Gregor Domes at the University of Germany shows how oxytocin is involved in reading the others’ mind.

Oxytocin appears to ease the processing of social information received through two sensory pathways: hearing and vision. This hormone also was found to regulate stress and fear reactivity, explaining the theory of mind by decreasing the social anxiety accompanying many social encounters, an acute symptom in autism.

The hormone that helps you read minds

We've long accepted that hormones can make you amorous, aggressive, or erratic. But lately neuroscience has been abuzz with evidence that the hormone oxytocin -- which also acts as a neuromodulator -- can enhance at least one cognitive power: the ability to understand the gist of what others are thinking.

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Related:
Healthy Living Blog | The Hormone That Makes You Enter the Mind of the Others
Compassion Cure | Popular Science
The hormone that helps you read minds Blogs Scientific American Community
The Hormone That Makes You Enter the Mind of the Others - The oxytocin - Softpedia
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