14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since we humans first got into the habit of telling lies to each other, those brainier of the bunch have been trying to come up with ways to make folks who like to keep certain things to themselves spill the beans on whatever it is that they are hiding.
Torture, threats, money rewards and plenty of other such practices have so far been used to try and convince individuals to reveal their secrets. Interestingly enough, chemistry has also been put to the test, and it proved a fairly reliable ally.
Not to beat about the bush, it just so happens that, contrary to what some might assume, the so-called truth serum isn't just some magical potion to be found in "Harry Potter" books alone. On the contrary, it is very much real and scientists are all too familiar with it.
As detailed in the video below, the real-life truth serum is essentially a chemical compound dubbed sodium thiopental. The compound was created in 1936 by a team of chemists who were actually trying to develop a new painkiller.
This compound that they came up with failed to work wonders when it came to treating headaches or toothaches. Sodium thiopental did, however, turn out to be a perfect tool to get people to relax by slowing down brain activity.
During WWII, the compound was used to make it easier for soldiers to talk about battlefield events and thus overcome the trauma. Sometime later, somebody had the brilliant idea to use the compound to get criminal suspects talking about their law-breaking activities.
It's important to note that, although sodium thiopental affects the brain in the sense that it inhibits complex thought processes such as lying, this does not necessarily make it a truth serum through and through. On the contrary, it can happen for people just to babble on without saying anything interesting.
Besides, studies carried out over the years have shown that those dead set on keeping the silence on a given topic cannot be persuade to talk simply by administering them this compound, and those who believe a lie will keep repeating it even when exposed to sodium thiopental.
