Sensitizing hormone spray for men?

Study: Does a hormone spray make men more senile and empathetic? Scientists at the University of Bonn make the messenger oxytocin responsible.

A messenger substance called oxytocin should be responsible for making men more "sensitive" and "emotional". Researchers found that the hormone oxytocin makes men feel more alert. The hormone oyxtocin is u.a. also released during an orgasm and triggers feelings like "love" and "trust". "Our study shows for the first time that emotional empathy is modulated by oxytocin," says study leader René Hurlemann from the University of Bonn. Modulated means in this context that it has managed to change the emotional world of a person.

The study involved 50 men of different ages. One part of the men was given the hormone Oyxtocin by spray, the other part of the subjects received placebos. In the test series emotionally disturbing pictures were shown to the male participants. According to the results of the study, the men treated with the hormone spray reacted significantly more strongly than the control group received the placebos. The oxytocin group would have shown much more compassion, study director Hurlemann said. The findings should not be used to help men in the future to supplement their emotions, but be useful for research into diseases such as schizophrenia. (Sb)