Dr. Dave Steuer, a partner in several businesses in Maine, leverages more than 20 years of professional experience to educate audiences around the world on various health topics. Early in his career, Dr. Dave Steuer studied neurochemistry and remains a proponent of the field of study.

In 2019, a team from the Center for BrainHealth released the results of a recent study on the social perception of trust and dominance. The study was built upon previous research on the effects of oxytocin on the perception of trustworthiness.

Researchers looked at the effects of vasopressin and oxytocin, two hormones known to impact social cognition, and examined how the hormones influence the perception of both social dominance and trustworthiness.

To complete their research, the scientists had a group of 20 men view pictures of human faces. All the faces had neutral expressions.

Participants were asked to rate the level of social dominance and trustworthiness they perceived in the faces. Researchers had participants repeat this with vasopressin, oxytocin, and with a saline placebo to determine how each affected the men’s perception.

According to the results measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, vasopressin and oxytocin affected brain activity related to the perception of dominance and trustworthiness. However, there was no observable change in the behavior of participants who received the hormones. This indicates that the hormones can affect brain activity without altering outward behavior.