Enough to make you weep (Image: Nick Daly/Stone/Getty)
NEXT time a sentimental movie makes you cry, blame your serotonin levels. Differences in the neurotransmitter might explain why some people are more prone to crying in emotional situations than others.
Frederick van der Veen’s team at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, gave 25 female volunteers a single dose of either paroxetine – a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) which briefly increases serotonin levels – or a placebo. Four hours later they were asked to watch one of two emotional movies: Brian’s Song, in which the hero dies of cancer, or …
