诚信是社会关系的基础，过去我们常常把它作为社会学的话题谈论，但并不知其神经本质。神经经济学的创立人保尔.查克（ Paul J. Zak ）博士认为有一个称为催产素的化学物质起关键的作用。催产素是脑垂体分泌的一种神经多肽类激素，能促进孕妇分娩和泌乳的作用；事实上，无论男女都有，主要存在于脑神经内，常常与其它神经递质共存，是一种神经调质。在脑内它分布广泛，也通过分泌到血液传送到全身，而在大脑额叶部和基底核的活动与人的诚信取向有关。 查克用他自己的亲身经历说明催产素如何影响人的行为。查克中学时在一个汽车加油站小杂货店打工。有一天，一个顾客从该店的厕所出来，拿着一串珍珠项链装模作样地问：喂，谁的项链丢了？恰在此时小店的电话响了，电话里头那位与这位开始上演双簧。电话里焦急地说给妻子买的项链丢了，如果谁发现，愿意给200美元酬谢。他告诉对方的确有一个顾客刚刚拾到一串项链，对方则说他马上赶到。而那个捡到项链的人说他有事，不能等，希望把项链交给Zak，与他平分200美元。穷学生的查克当时一天的工资只有20美元，这简直就是天上掉下的馅饼，看着这对可怜恩爱的夫妻，就毫不犹豫的接受了，给了那人100元让他先走。查克左等右等不见来人取项链后报警，这才知那项链不过区区2美元而已! 对于陌生人的信任，催产素是如何起作用的呢？在人的大脑中有一个固有的神经构造，通过释放催产素维持正常的人际信任关系。问题的关键是若你相信骗子，而骗子会利用信任时，这种神经化学分子的分泌对人际关系则具有破坏性。当骗子装成可怜的样子，需要你帮忙的时候，你的脑内催产素释放增加，促使你同情他，并帮助他。相反，对于那些当骗子的坏蛋，他们的催产素此时处于下调状态，释放减少。在陌生人群体研究中，大约有2％（这是美国的统计结果，在中国尚未可知）的人会对另一陌生人的困难产生同情感和正面的道德取向，脑内分泌催产素增加，所以该物质又被称为道德分子。因而，在面对那些坏蛋时，无论你的催产素多么亢奋，你一定得多留神，但也不要做得过分，毕竟2％不是一个很高的比例－－98％的人性是好的，到符合人之初，性本善。很多时候这种警觉往往因为人性的弱点，如查克的贪心而失去作用，这你就不能怪骗子防不胜防了。 虽然对催产素的这一特性的了解是最近十年的事情，但是长期以来，它被不自觉地应用于商业活动中。最典型的商业案例就是传销。1995年安利登陆上海时，安利在上海徐家汇的场面一度非常火爆，人山人海几近疯狂。许多人不明白为什么自己花700元参加了传销事业，包括那些住在肇嘉浜路中科院博士公寓的高智商博士们，他们压根儿不需要一次花七个月的津贴去买那么多高档清洁用品。许多观望者们，则在听了大大小小或许皇冠大使的讲座后将信将疑，不知所措，最后在上线拍拍肩膀后，义无反顾决定加入。实验表明，轻拍和抚摸都能刺激对方分泌催产素。而催产素能驱动人信任陌生人。很多参加传销的人，即使家人亲人的强烈反对，一旦进入传销的气场，往往欲罢不能，被上线束手就擒。传销的奥妙就在于此。传销已演变出形形色色的营销模式变种，但万变不离其中的就是陌生伙伴的帮助，包括得体的肢体接触，以增进信任感。 了解人的这一本性，你就既不会卖拐，也不会被拐卖。 延伸阅读： The neurobiology of trust. Zak PJ. Sci Am . 2008 Jun;298(6):88-92, 95. Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Kosfeld M, et al. Nature . 2005 Jun 2;435(7042):673-6.
【最近旅行时在飞机上从 时代杂志 上读到这篇文章，觉得很有意思。它说的是一种部分 成环（通过二硫键）状结构的 多肽，英文是 Oxytocin ,中文翻译成 催产素 ，具有很多神奇 的生理功能，包括亲人之间的安抚功能。详 细可以参 考英文 维基百科 ，或者一个中文医 学 百科网站 。1953年， Vincent du Vigneaud 第一个完成它的人工化学合成，2年后获得了 炸 药奖。下面这篇文章介绍的 是一个有趣的实验：在压力下，跟母亲通电话的儿童，能 够 获得与母亲拥抱过的儿童一 样的安慰效果----因为检测到相似的催生素水平增加。】 Thanks, Mom! http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1992405,00.html By Tiffany O'Callaghan Monday, Jun. 07, 2010 There are plenty of reasons oxytocin is referred to as the cuddle chemical. Levels of the hormone surge during caresses, and researchers think it evolved as a way to reduce stress and fear of others long enough to enable contact necessary for procreation. It also helps facilitate bonding between mothers and newborns. But for the first time, scientists have found that Mom's innate ability to soothe and to boost oxytocin levels is as powerful whether she's offering a hug in person or consolation over the phone . 【oxytocin，image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin 】 To understand how mothers can influence levels of oxytocin in their children, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Child Emotion Lab recruited 61 girls, ages 7 to 12, and placed them in a stressful situation: they had to give an impromptu speech and solve math problems in front of strangers. Afterward, some girls were allowed to seek refuge in their mothers' arms, others talked to Mom on the phone, and the control group watched an emotion-neutral film ( March of the Penguins ) that bored many participants to sleep. The results, published in May in the biological-sciences journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , showed that oxytocin levels jumped almost exactly as much in girls who were comforted in person as they did in girls who'd been calmed long distance. The findings add to a growing body of research on the impact of oxytocin , which has been shown to promote such qualities as generosity and empathy. Leslie Seltzer , the biological anthropologist who led the study, suggests an evolutionary reason for the soothing power of Mom's voice. When faced with a threat say, members of a rival tribe men could choose to fight or take flight, but women's options were complicated by having little ones in tow. Fleeing might expose the children to more danger. That's why, Seltzer speculates, women may have developed the ability to use social bonds to tend and befriend to diminish stress either by touching or by talking. Seltzer's next study: to see if Mom can send some oxytocin love by instant message . 附：原始文献 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/05/06/rspb.2010.0567.abstract Social vocalizations can release oxytocin in humans Leslie J. Seltzer 1 , * , Toni E. Ziegler 2 and Seth D. Pollak 1 Abstract Vocalizations are important components of social behaviour in many vertebrate species, including our own. Less well-understood are the hormonal mechanisms involved in response to vocal cues, and how these systems may influence the course of behavioural evolution. The neurohormone oxytocin (OT) partly governs a number of biological and social processes critical to fitness, such as attachment between mothers and their young, and suppression of the stress response after contact with trusted conspecfics. Rodent studies suggest that OT's release is contingent upon direct tactile contact with such individuals, but we hypothesized that vocalizations might be capable of producing the same effect. To test our hypothesis, we chose human motherdaughter dyads and applied a social stressor to the children, following which we randomly assigned participants into complete contact, speech-only or no-contact conditions. Children receiving a full complement of comfort including physical, vocal and non-verbal contact showed the highest levels of OT and the swiftest return to baseline of a biological marker of stress (salivary cortisol), but a strikingly similar hormonal profile emerged in children comforted solely by their mother's voice. Our results suggest that vocalizations may be as important as touch to the neuroendocrine regulation of social bonding in our species.
标签: 催产素
