A truth serum is a drug that can be given during interrogation to obtain information from an individual. Of course there is no drug that can make people be completely honest, there are drugs that can make people delirious and talk a lot, mixing fantasy with reality. Truth serums are illegal in many countries, but many intelligence agencies use them. Many different types of drugs have been used as truth serums, including alcohol, LSD and Scopolamine. Why scopolamine should be successful as a truth serum, I don't know, because it actually inhibits the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, blocking your memory.
Some believe that our knowledge of oxytocin may be used for truth serums in the future. Oxytocin increases your attachment and trust of other people, so an intake of it may make you trust your interrogator (or perhaps fall in love with him). Here is an article on truth serums: Some believe truth serums will come back
2 Comments
Book
11/27/2011 04:20:08 am
This is very interesting, I've never heard of it before. Does Scopolamine inhibit short-term memory? If so, maybe the suspect could easily forget that they are being interrogated, but the event being asked about could be in their long-term memory?
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Mr Hansson
11/29/2011 12:28:11 am
Book, I don't know enough to answer that question. I only know that they use scopolamine in memory research because it is known to create amnesia and forgetting similar to those with alzheimer's disease. It was also used as an anaesthetic before. But acetylcholine seems more related to attention/learning than memory, so maybe it is the working memory that is inhibited. You can maybe check wikipedia on the issue.
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AuthorThis is my class blog for IB Psychology. Here I will publish reflections on psychology, reviews of psychology books, recommended links, lecture notes, and information on psychology topics that are not covered by the syllabus. You are free to add comments or ask me questions. Archives
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