Doctor's Orders: Jun. 13, 2005

THE SPRAY-ON TRUST-ME HORMONE

In a study of 200 students playing a game with real money, researchers found that the hormone oxytocin, applied as a nasal spray, increased a student's willingness to trust another player. While the finding may offer another clue to understanding social phobias--or even autism--the half-life of the spray is too short for use by used-car salesmen.

ADDICTED TO SLEEP

Three out of four prescriptions written for insomnia are for potentially addictive benzodiazepines, according to a new study in the journal Sleep. The reason may be financial: newer, nonaddictive drugs are pricier.

FITNESS FOR THE FAST AND FURIOUS

Does getting fit always have to take a lot of time? A training regimen of just four to seven 30-sec. all-out sprints on a stationary bike three times a week built muscle and endurance, according to researchers from Ontario's McMaster University. But, they caution, sprints like that are very demanding and require an unusual level of motivation.

THE NEUROLOGY OF DESIRE

MRI scans of students "newly and madly" in love show that intense romance has less to do with the parts of the brain involved with sex than with those of its reward system. Fueling the throes of love is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is also involved in addiction. --By David Bjerklie