Our bodies tell us our reaction to technology starts in the womb. The more exposure a fetus has to pre-natal testosterone, the more anxiety-sensitive that person will be. Also, that person's ring finger will be shorter than their index finger. Researchers at Bath University did ring/index finger comparisons with 150 computer science students. In every case there was a clear link between the students' grades and the relative lengths of their fingers. The opposite was true with 119 non-computer science students. Those with shorter ring fingers had greater anxiety about using technology. Who knew techies and technophobes could be "fingered".
Our bodies tell us clenching our muscles can increase willpower. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research had volunteers do things like put their hands in a bucket of ice water, drink a foul-tasting vinegar liquid and resist tempting foods. The volunteers who were told to tighten muscles - finger, hand, bicep or calf muscles - while trying to exert willpower were better at meeting the challenges. Unfortunately, the muscle clenching helped only when the volunteers wanted to meet the challenge and only at the moment they faced the challenge. It seems we can't "muscle" anymore willpower from the study.
Our bodies tell us new love relieves pain. It increases the level of dopamine, the brain's feel-good chemical. In a study published in the journal PLoS One, 15 self-described, love-struck students looked at a picture of their new love, looked at a picture of an attractive acquaintance and participated in a distracting task. After being touched with a hot wand, brain scans showed looking at a new love produced the same pain relief as being distracted. Unfortunately, a long-time commitment (unless you try something new) doesn't have the same effect on the brain as new love - that's the "painful" truth.
Finally, our bodies tell us other peoples' opinions affect us physically. In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, student volunteers were told students at another university were going to decide if they liked them based on their pictures. Using an electrocardiogram, the researchers measured the volunteers' heart rates as they were told what the other students' opinions supposedly were. The heart rates slowed while the volunteers waited to hear. If they were rejected, their heart rates slowed more. If the volunteers expected to be liked, their heart rates slowed even more. According to this, others' opinions are "heartfelt".
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 