Physiological Measures

Buddies see, buddies do: Studying synchrony in interpersonal relationships

One of my favorite parts in the development of a good friendship is the moment you realize that you’ve started to mimic each other. Take, for instance, the ridiculous way my high school friends and I started to mispronounce word “beverage” with an extra r: breverage. This didn’t stem from any speech difficulties or our […]

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Don’t look away! How tracking eye movements can help us learn about fear

It feels like, culturally speaking, we’ve developed quite an interest in the role of fear, anxiety, and trauma in shaping our everyday lives. Popular works of fiction explore the trauma and anxieties of their characters in settings that range from the mundane to the fantastical; just look at the popularity of TV shows like Ted […]

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From Hamlet to the amygdala: The role of ruminations and their neural substrates

“Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” considered one of Shakespeare’s best tragedies and perhaps one of the most famous English plays ever written, chronicles the quest of Prince Hamlet to avenge his father’s death through ruminating soliloquies and machinations. Hamlet, Act III Scene 1: “To be or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler […]

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The early embrace beats later negativity: The neuroscience of appraising social and emotional relevance

Humans are social beings. This has numerous implications: For example, we know what others know or can know, and so we do not use gestures to communicate when we talk on the phone. We are sensitive to social norms, and we typically conform with those norms—even if they are communicated by a computer. We are […]

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Your risk aversion is your brain’s feedback aversion

Suppose you own Montana’s only candle-holder shop. Business is going well and you want to inspire your two employees, Fred and Giselle, to work even harder so you can open a franchise in Idaho. You decide to offer a performance bonus to your best employee, defined as the person who is most courteous to customers […]

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Direct current against implicit associations: Transcranial stimulation can reduce bias in information processing

Cogito ergo sum. This famous utterance by René Descartes translates into “I think, therefore I am.” Thinking is what ostensibly makes us human—quite literally so because homo sapiens means “wise man”. But do we really think (much)? If we are so wise, how come fake election news stories outperformed real news on Facebook during the U.S. presidential […]

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When attention jumps the shark: The asymmetric role of the frontal hemispheres

Imagine settling into the well-deserved holiday on the Ningaloo Reef. The Indian Ocean is warm and gentle and you go for your first exploratory snorkel. The corals are beginning to recover from their latest bleach and the number and coloring of the tropical fish is as enchanting as it is astounding. And then you take […]

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The drowsy blink and self-driving vehicles: Can technology detect a tired driver?

On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris. The crash was ruled to be the consequence of her driver losing control over the vehicle because he was intoxicated and under the influence of prescription drugs. Her death brought home a message that has been at the center of […]

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The inner meerkat and the chocolate break: Cognitive fatigue and error processing rely on the same brain regions

We all get tired. Sometimes we get so tired that we find it almost impossible to stay awake. Especially if we are in a meeting of the parking committee, and perhaps even if we are a meerkat: Although we are all familiar with the feeling of fatigue, we may not always realize that fatigue comes […]

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