MindHacks covers recent research suggesting that oxytocin may not only enhance positively-valenced emotions associated with trust, it may also enhance emotions like envy. Some non-human animal research suggests it also enhances aggression. So, the authors of a recent Scientific American article "conclude that, rather than being a something that promotes trust and bonding, oxytocin enhances all social emotions, including the good, the bad and the ugly."
See here for the MindHacks post, here for the SciAm article, and here for the abstract of the study on oxytocin and envy.
I'm always amazed by how the tiniest dose of a drug can drastically affect a person's personality. As a weight trainer, I really began to notice such changes in people who take creatine.
Posted by: Tenrou Ugetsu | 08/05/2009 at 11:14 PM