How the brain detects attractive people

Why are people attracted to young partners and not to the elderly? Is it better to be blonde? Why is the man we saw a glimpse, it looks more attractive than the one who made out well? I think now you will not be surprised if I say that our sense of beauty deeply (without access) imprinted in the brain - and all this in order to achieve something useful from a biological point of view.

Let's go back to the contemplation of the most beautiful person you know. Well built, everyone likes looker. Our brain is imprisoned on what to pay attention to those who so looks. Due to the small details in the exterior of such a person gets increased popularity and a successful career.

Again, you will not be surprised if I tell you what we think is attractive not something intangible and sung by poets. No, the sense of beauty is born of certain signals that are suited to the special neuronal Software, like a key in a lock.

What people choose as the beauty of parameters - it's mostly signs of the ability to procreate, manifested as a result of hormonal changes.

Before puberty, boys and girls have similar facial and body shapes. In girls who have reached puberty, increases estrogen production, so that the lips become plumper, and the figure becomes a rounded shape; boys increases testosterone production, and as a result of stronger chin protrudes forward, increasing the nose, jaw becomes more massive and shoulders - wide.

Full lips, full buttocks and a narrow waist in women pass a clear message: I am full of estrogen and fertility. In men, it's doing a massive jaw, hair and broad chest. That is how we are programmed to seek beauty. Form reflects function.

Our program is so entrenched that vary slightly from person to person. researchers identifyIs thin really beautiful and good? Relationship between waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and female attractiveness a very narrow range female proportionsThat men find most attractive: the optimal ratio of the volume of the waist and hips is usually between 0.67 and 0.822. Men find women with such parameters is not only more attractive, but also presumably more healthy, cheerful and clever.

The older the woman, the more it forms deviate from these proportions. Waist creeps, lips become thinner, sagging breasts and so on - all this conveys the signal that a woman has already passed the peak of fertility. Even adolescents without biological education attracts a woman aged less than a young girl. His neural circuits have a clear mission (reproduction); his mind receives only the required header ( "She's attractive, chase for it!"), and nothing else.

Hidden neural programs reveal more than the ability to bear children. Not all fertile women are equally healthy, and therefore not all look equally attractive. Physiologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran suggests that joke about men prefer blonde can contain grains of truth white-faced women are more clearly showing signs of disease, while the person is able to mask the dark color Problems. More information about health - the best choice, and hence there are such preferences.

On the men's visual stimuli are stronger than women. Nevertheless, women are subject to the same internal forces: they involve attractive features that characterize a mature masculinity.

It is interesting that women's preferences may change over the course of the month: in the time of ovulation, they prefer masculine men, and in the rest of the time - the stronger sex with softer features of appearance that is likely to signalsFemale preference for male faces changes cyclically a more social and caring behavior.

seduction program mainly controlled device awareness, but the result is obvious to anyone. That's why people shell out for a facelift, improved abdominal shape, implants, liposuction and Botox. They tend to hold in their hands the key to the program laid down by others in the brain.

It is not surprising that we have almost no direct access to the mechanics of our instincts. Visual information is connected to the ancient neural modules, which govern our behavior. Recall from Chapter 1 the experiment, when the men were ranked female facial beauty: they considered more attractive women with dilated pupils, because they indicate sexual interest. None of these men had no conscious access to your process decision making.

In one study in my lab test showed a momentBriefly Glimpsed People are more Attractive pictures of men and women, after which they assessed their attractiveness. In the second phase, participants were asked to evaluate the same pictures, but this time they could see them properly. What is the result? People seen casually beautiful.

In other words, if you notice someone passing, turning a corner or driving past, your perceptual system says that these people are nicer than if you evaluated them in a quiet environment.

For men, this effect is more pronounced than for women, probably because men are more "visual" in assessing the attractiveness. "The effect of transience" corresponds to everyday experience, when a man throws a glance at the woman and said that he had just seen a rare beautyBut as we look at it he discovers his mistake. This effect is clear - unlike its causes. Why is the visual system received short-term information, is always wrong to one side - believes that a woman beautiful? Why would it, in the absence of clear data not believe that a woman should be average or below average?

The answer is related to the reproduction requirements. If you decide that flashed unattractive person beautiful, it takes only a second look to correct mistakes - low costs. On the other hand, if you make a mistake and deems attractive partner unattractive, you can say "Sayonara" (Jap. "Goodbye") potentially successful genetic future. Therefore, the perceptual system has to swallow the tale that briefly sighted person is attractive. As with other examples, all that is known to the conscious mind - you were driving in the traffic on the other lane and had just passed the incredible beauty; you have no access to the neural machinery of the brain or to the evolutionary pressures that shaped this presentationAutomatic effects of alcohol cues on sexual attraction.

Attractiveness is not a fixed concept, it is adjusted in accordance with the requirements of the situation.

So, almost all female mammals are sending clear signals when ready to mate. Back female baboons is bright pink - an unmistakable and irresistible invitation to-male baboon. On the other hand, human females do not convey any special signals to announce their fertility.

Or is it not so? It turns out that a woman is considered to beFemale facial attractiveness increases during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle the most beautiful just at the peak of fertility - for about 10 days before the the menstrual cycle. This is true for the opinions of both men and women. Woman's appearance sends a message about the level of her fertility. Such signals are weaker than ass baboon, but their task - only to stimulate the special unit unconscious men in the room. If they have reached the desired circuits, mission accomplished. The signals reach up to chains of other women - perhaps because it's so they can evaluate the competitors in the struggle for men.

It is unclear what these signals: it may be, for example, the quality of the skin (eg during ovulation, the tone becomes lighter). But whatever they were, our brain is designed to catch them - even without the participation of the conscious mind. The mind only feels powerful and inexplicable rush of desire.

The relationship of ovulation and assess the beauty not only in the laboratory - it can be measured in real-life situations. In a recent studyOvulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus? scientists from New Mexico counted tip, which is obtained in the local dancer strip club, and the correlation between the calculated compensation size and menstrual cycle strippers.

During peak fertility dancers earned an average of $ 68 per hour. During menstruation time - only about $ 35. Between these periods the average salary was $ 52. Interestingly, the stripper who use contraceptives do not show a clear peak and earnings throughout the month on average, $ 37 per hour - compare with an average of $ 52 per hour for those who did not use contraception. Apparently, they earn less as tablets lead to hormonal changes (and hence changes to the signals), and therefore are less interesting dancer Casanova in men's clubs.

It is important to clarify that the beauty of women (or men) is predetermined by a neural structure.

We do not have conscious access to these programs, and we can get them only after thorough research.

note that brain pretty good detects signals. Go back to the image of the most beautiful person you know, and imagine that you measure the distance between his or her eyes, as well as the length of the nose, lip thickness, the shape of the chin and so on. If you compare these measurements with those of another, not so attractive man, he would have found that the differences are negligible. For space alien or a German Shepherd, these two people would be indistinguishable, as well as hard for you distinguish between attractive and unattractive alien or attractive and unattractive German shepherd. However, small differences in your species have a huge impact on your brain.

As an example, let's say that some people find exciting view of women in short shorts, but repulsive - looking men in short shorts, although these two paintings is hardly distinguishable from the point of view geometric perspective. Our ability to carry out subtle differences amazingly perfected; our brains are designed to cope with clear objectives and the choice of partner conquest. All this takes place below the level of consciousness: we just enjoy the wildness of delightful experiences.

Attractiveness is not the only topic that Iglmen considers the book. He also talks about the brain damage, infidelity, Narcotic substances, criminal law and artificial intelligence. Get ready to find out what will forever change your view of themselves, their actions and the world that surrounds you.

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