A hormone associated with aggression and monogamy in animals promotes cooperation and trust under risky situations, according to researchers from Caltech.
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers outlined how their findings can be useful in boosting cooperation within groups.
Based on research on rodents, they found that the hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) supports pair bonding and promotes parental behavior, as well as aggression in males.
Colin Camerer and colleagues said the results of their research show that AVP can be used to foster cooperation in groups, especially in high-stakes situations like military operations. In situations where outcomes depend on everyone's cooperation, administering AVP may ensure success.
The researchers carried out the study to test the hypothesis that AVP has the potential to boost social bonding in people and may be able to explain cooperative tendencies in humans.
"Where does that come from? Is it something like pair bonding but just scaled up? And if it is, what role does AVP play?" asked Camerer.
To answer these questions, the researchers administered AVP-containing and placebo nasal sprays to a group of 59 males, volunteers between 19 and 32 years old.
The participants were then paired up, tasked with using computers to play a game where they are to choose whether or not they will be cooperating with the other player. When the two parties cooperated with each other, they got more points compared to what they would have acquired if they did not work together.
The game was made to mimic certain scenarios where people would be willing to help but only if everyone is on board with the idea.
According to their findings, the researchers saw that participants administered with AVP were dramatically likelier to be cooperative than those given placebo nasal sprays. They ruled out other reasons for why a participant would cooperate, such as the possibility of the hormone increasing their desire for risks or amplifying altruistic tendencies, therefore reinforcing the results of the study.
The researchers also carried out the same test on 34 men but had their brains imaged while playing the game to better understand what kind of neural mechanism was at play. They saw that when AVP was administered, the ventral pallidum, a portion of the brain abundant with AVP receptors, showed an increase in neural activity when a participant was cooperative.
Photo: U.S. Army Europe | Flickr
