To Brains, Even Common Gestures Unfamiliar
Sunday, October 3, 2010 - 04:10
in Psychology & Sociology
What's more universal in culture than a "thumbs up"? To our brains, whether we seem to have a cultural familiarity or not, it isn't familiar at all, says new research in Human Brain Mapping. People seem to react quickly and intuitively to body language, tone of voice and gaze but gestures are different, at least when the gesturer offers no other cues. Less surprisingly, the new study also found that same-race interaction leads to greater activity in the mirror neuron system, a region of the brain linked to subconscious imitation. read more