Researchers are continuing to plug away at working out why
stories are so powerful. They are finding a range of reasons why
stories stick, from the fact that they trigger some primal
impulses through to nailing what sort of hormones are stimulated
when we listen to or read or see a story. Jessica Marshall,
writing in her blog, Empress of the Global Universe talks about
the research of Paul Zak from Claremont Graduate University,
California. He thinks the key story hormone, thinks the key
hormone is oxytocin, produced during feel-good encounters such
as breastfeeding and sex. As a pioneer in oxytocin research, Zak
has developed various ways to stimulate its release, including
orchestrating situations where the subject of his experiment is
trusted by a stranger. But the most potent so far is an
emotionally charged story. “Of all the stimuli we’ve developed
that release oxytocin, this one was the best,” says Zak. Getting
volunteers to watch a 5-minute video telling the story of a
4-year-old boy with terminal bra