The Neuroscience of Trust

Have you ever met someone and immediately thought, Yep, I’d trust them with my pet, my house keys, and possibly my life - but someone else makes you clutch your coffee and reconsider all your life choices? That’s not just gut instinct. That’s neuroscience. 🧠

Trust isn’t some fluffy “soft skill.” It’s a biological process that dictates how we work, lead, and connect. Think about it - what’s the #1 reason people hate group work? Because they don’t trust the other people to do it “right”, right? Trust starts in the brain, runs through the body, and dictates behaviour. It’s a biological survival strategy, because back in the day, trusting the wrong cave buddy could mean oops, you're lion food. As it turns out, our brains haven’t evolved NEARLY as much as our environment has since our cave buddy days.

Here’s what’s happening under the surface:

• Your brain releases oxytocin when trust is established. This neuro-hormone makes collaboration feel good, lowers stress, and strengthens relationships. Oxytocin levels rise when we experience warmth, eye contact, shared laughter, and physical touch. This is why a firm handshake or a genuine smile can shift an entire interaction. Our brains are actual experts at decoding micro changes in facial expressions, meaning it can react to a perceived slight or trigger before we’re even consciously aware of it.
• Betrayal activates the same brain regions as physical pain, which explains why getting thrown under the bus at work doesn’t just hurt emotionally. It’s a real biological stressor.
• Chronic distrust rewires your brain toward hyper-vigilance, overthinking, and decision paralysis. In other words, a lack of trust doesn’t just make work unpleasant. It actively reduces creativity, problem-solving, and performance.
• Studies show that giving people artificial oxytocin makes them more trusting and generous. Researchers have tested this by giving a synthetic oxytocin via nasal spray and measuring increased cooperation in financial and social trust games. (No, we’re not suggesting misting your next boardroom meeting with oxytocin, but the principle is the same: environments that promote trust chemically shift people’s willingness to collaborate.)

So I have to ask the question: As a leader, do your teams trust you? And if you’re not 100% sure, how do we build trust in our teams and organisations? Do NOT say another ropes course trust fall offsite.

Enter Hatch immersive learning studio. At Hatch, we don’t just talk about trust - we design for it. Because trust isn’t built in a PowerPoint. It’s built in the body and brain, through play, emotion, and experience.

For Brain Awareness Week, we’re celebrating the science of trust by doing what we do best: turning “boring” research into transformational learning experiences.

We use science and research to craft programs that actually change how people lead and work.

• We collaborate with artists, gamers, experts, musicians, trainers, chefs, and more to make learning multimodal and fun, which is how we learn best.
• We create playful, immersive experiences that get people out of their comfort zones and into their most brilliant, creative selves.

And now, we’re offering our latest program on The Neuroscience of Leadership, designed to help leaders harness the soft skills to build trust, and brain-based strategies to navigate today’s most complex challenges.

An Invitation to the Mavericks & Misfits

This is for the people who are putting out fires - literally and metaphorically. The disruptors, the critical thinkers, the hard-working people on the ground floor and at the top. The organizers, the change agents, the leaders, creatives, dreamers, and misfits.

If you’re ready to understand leadership through fun and interactive brain-behaviour insights, and apply that knowledge in ways that actually change behaviour - get in touch.

‍

‍