Some drugs can actually make it harder for us to make up lies, but alas, they don’t work the way we’ve been told before.
People have known since Roman times that we are more truthful when we are under the influence of something. This is where the very idea of the term “truth serum” came from. In fact, it can be any drug that changes our mind, that is, makes you unable to lie, writes Science Alert.
However, the researchers claim that no single drug is actually powerful enough to shackle the human brain enough to make lying impossible in principle.
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Some truth sera, such as sodium thiopental, slow down the rate of transmission of signals from the spinal cord to the brain. As a result, performing high-functioning tasks, such as concentrating on one action, actually becomes difficult, which is the concentration we need to come up with a lie. The same thing happens when we fall asleep and reach the twilight state – that is, we are between sleep and consciousness. In this state, it will also be easier for us to tell the truth, but this in no way excludes the possibility of lying.
Moreover, scientists believe that the use of certain drugs may even affect in such a way that under its influence a person wants to say what they want to hear from him, even if this is not true.
While the use of truth sera is illegal today, some still exist and are used today for other purposes, such as:
production of medicines (including motion sickness); production of lethal injections.
Researchers have compiled a list of the most common mind-altering and manipulating drugs that have been used as truth sera at one time or another.
Sodium Pentothal
This is a type of barbiturate, which is a drug that suppresses the central nervous system, in simple words, a “depressant”. In essence, it slows down the process of transmitting information to the brain and is a common prescription drug. It is used for:
pain relief; sedation; muscle relaxation; lowering blood pressure.
Until 2011, the drug was used as an anesthetic because patients pass out within 30-45 seconds of ingestion. However, the United States then abandoned the use of the drug. Moreover, an overdose of the drug can also be fatal, as was the case with Marilyn Monroe and Jimi Hendrix, and this drug was also one of the first to be used for lethal injections in the States.
However, despite the fact that the drug has ceased to be produced, you can still find reports of its use as a truth serum.
scopolamine
Became the first medicine to be called “truth serum”, back in the early 20th century. It is known that in the 1920s and 30s this drug was sometimes used by some police departments in the United States to work with suspects. Moreover, the judicial system is aware of cases when judges took into account the testimony of suspects given under scopolamine, which they later retracted.
The drug is obtained from the seeds of a tree that grows in Colombia – locals call it “the tree from which they get drunk.” One of the side effects of scopolamine is that upon waking up, the person does not remember what they said or did while under the influence of the drug.
Today, scopolamine is used to make a number of drugs, including:
medicines for motion sickness; medicines for Parkinson’s disease.
In addition, today scopolamine is used as a date rape drug.
Amytal sodium (amobarbital)
This drug is also a type of barbiturate and depressant. It was widely used during World War II as a sedative for shell-shocked soldiers. However, like other truth serums, amobarbital is a powerful sedative. However, the researchers also found that the side effects of the drug were also incoordination and cognitive impairment – for this reason, sodium amytal was discontinued in the army.
It is also known that this drug can be highly addictive, and an overdose of it can be fatal. Today, the drug is used to treat insomnia – intravenously or as a powder for oral administration. The maximum dose for an adult is only 1 gram.
Note that this drug was no longer used as a right serum, due to the fact that people sometimes have false memories after the fact after taking it.
Ethanol
Studies show that people have known about the ability of alcohol to loosen the tongue for about 2000 years. Whether you drink alcohol or take pure intravenous ethanol, ethyl alcohol will make you more prone to revealing secrets.
However, as with other truth serums, alcohol does not at all guarantee that a person will not be able to lie, no matter how loose his tongue is.
Do truth sera work?
Scientists believe that today there is no pharmaceutical compound that has a proven truth-enhancing effect. At the same time, according to Mark Willis, professor and expert on the history of biological weapons and biological weapons control at the University of California at Davis, despite the fact that such a drug does not exist today, this does not mean at all that it cannot appear in the future.
Davis notes that today researchers are working to understand a large number of neural circuits, which means that in the future they will be able to manipulate them, including such states as:
fear; anxiety; horror; depression.
Previously, Focus wrote that scientists told whether the “truth serum” really works.
