In case you were wondering: Seeing Meat Makes People Significantly Less Aggressive.
“We used imagery of meat that was ready to eat. In terms of behaviour, with the benefit of hindsight, it would make sense that our ancestors would be calm, as they would be surrounded by friends and family at meal time,” Kachanoff explained. “I would like to run this experiment again, using hunting images…”
Scientists giving mice electric shocks, tracking fear–
–noticed that an unusual protein appeared in the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in emotions. That molecule remained for only a few days and appeared to strengthen the brain circuit responsible for maintaining the fearful memory. But when the researchers eliminated the protein during this period, mice lost their fearful memory. Forever.
A study says self-awareness about your flirting style helps dating, helps relationships.
“Knowing something about the way you communicate attraction says something about challenges you might have had in your past dating life,” Hall said. “Hopefully, this awareness can help people avoid those mistakes and succeed in courtship.”
The five styles of flirting named: physical, traditional, polite, sincere and playful (all detailed in the article).
A study likes conversation.
Talking with other people in a friendly way can make it easier to solve common problems, a new University of Michigan study shows. But conversations that are competitive in tone, rather than cooperative, have no cognitive benefits…
A study examines the idea of unlimited willpower.
Up until now, many researchers have asserted that the only way to stay focused during projects that require intense concentration is to seek occasional restoration with physical distractions such as food, rest, or other activity. They believe this will help a person feel recharged and get back on task. Apparently, this isn’t the case…
PsychCentral sums up a meta-study, “The Neuroimaging of Love.”
Findings suggest falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affects intellectual areas of the brain…Researchers also found falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second.
Bad jobs are bad–a recent study confirms it (PsychCentral).
“Our work found that people in poor-quality jobs—jobs which were insecure, did not provide future job prospects or had high levels of strain—had no better mental health than people who were unemployed,” said Dr. Leach.
A pedometer study shows Americans take fewer steps than people in other countries. One tidbit:
Being single was associated with taking more steps. Single people averaged 6,076 daily steps, compared to 4,793 steps for married people. Widowed participates moved the least, averaging 3,394 daily steps.
A study finds a possible explanation why men are twice as likely as women to become alcoholics.
Dopamine has multiple functions in the brain, but is important in this context because of its pleasurable effects when it is released by rewarding experiences, such as sex or drugs…Despite similar consumptions of alcohol, the men had greater dopamine release than women.
Study: Love decreases pain. Commenters: Unimpressed.
Researchers from Stanford University studied the link between love and pain by scanning the brains of 15 college students who all professed to being deeply in love. The eight women and seven men were placed in brain scanners that tracked their body’s response to pain — in this case a heated probe placed on the palm of the hand.