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Your Mind is Stronger Than You Think: Imagining a Placebo Can Reduce Unpleasant Emotions

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By: Vasundhara Source: đŸȘž femme fatale ♀ on X: “gaslighting myself into being happy https://t.co/D4JZaxrB5I” / X (twitter.com) The Surprising Power of Imagining a Placebo Have you ever been handed a pill by a well-meaning friend or relative, only to later discover it was just a sugar pill, with no real medical benefit? That, my friends, is the intriguing world of placebos in action. But that’s the deal right: even though it’s not real medicine, it can still work wonders. Moving ahead, there’s this interesting thing called open-label placebos (OLPs) – where people knowingly take a placebo, fully aware that … Continue reading Your Mind is Stronger Than You Think: Imagining a Placebo Can Reduce Unpleasant Emotions

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Unveiling the Fairness Gender Gap: A Journey into the Neural Divide

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By Vasundhara Source: Bing Create AI Fairness is in the eye of the beholder – and it seems the beholders have a distinct gender divide – Anonymous Ever been in a situation where you had to decide how to split a sum of money? Maybe it was a work bonus that needed to be divided among your team, or perhaps you came across some extra cash. Turns out, the battle of the sexes on what’s “fair” runs deep in our brains. A new study has pulled back the curtain on the neural mechanisms that make men and women tick quite … Continue reading Unveiling the Fairness Gender Gap: A Journey into the Neural Divide

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Yes, I’m Changing: the effects of reproductive experience on decision-making

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by Hayley Cheok Becoming a mother is a life-changing event – encompassing the journey of pregnancy, the birth process and parenting. It is an experience that brings about remarkable changes to a woman’s self-image and characteristics. Beyond that, it can also change a woman’s brain and consequentially, their behaviours. The short-term effects of reproductive experience on a mother are well-documented and common knowledge. This includes shifts in life priorities and changes in appearance and body. However, there is a lesser known aspect that requires more attention – the long-term impact of reproductive experience on a mother‘s cognitive abilities, such as decision-making.  … Continue reading Yes, I’m Changing: the effects of reproductive experience on decision-making

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Unlocking the Power of Vulnerability: How Sharing Negative Experiences Can Boost Prosociality

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By: Vasundhara Source: Just be there, it’s enough! | /r/wholesomememes | Wholesome Memes | Know Your Meme In the intricate web of human relationships, the way we communicate and connect with others shapes our social landscape. But what if I told you that sharing negative experiences could hold the key to forging deeper bonds and synchronizing our brains with those around us? Have you instantly felt closer to someone after sharing your bad experience with someone? As it turns out, there may be more to this instinct than meets the eye. While prior work has examined the benefits of sharing … Continue reading Unlocking the Power of Vulnerability: How Sharing Negative Experiences Can Boost Prosociality

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Look up and down before you cross: social hierarchies and their impact on decision-making

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by Hayley Cheok “An organisation is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels. Some monkeys are climbing up, some down. The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but butts.” – Unknown From school to work, food pyramids to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
 we are constantly navigating hierarchies in our lives. In particular, social hierarchies are pervasive in our society and lucky for us – because we are fantastic at forming and navigating them. Social hierarchies simplify the complex … Continue reading Look up and down before you cross: social hierarchies and their impact on decision-making

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To dance at weddings or funerals: How your brain helps you mitigate the social situation

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by Nuruliawati (Nuy) When responding to social situations—and ensuring you are not doing something embarrassing or inappropriate—you most often depend on the situation, such as norms (Chung & Rimal, 2016; Ross & Nisbett, 2011). Let’s look at the example from … Continue reading To dance at weddings or funerals: How your brain helps you mitigate the social situation

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Just do it, or maybe not: do brand logos affect your spending habits?

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by Hayley Cheok Let’s start with a game – how many of these logos do you recognise? How many did you get right?  As you can see, well-designed brand logos hold immense power. They serve as strong ambassadors for brands – conveying attitudes, shaping reputations and perceptions, as well as influencing purchasing decisions
  often without any words [1,2]. Logos transcend mere marketing too – they can become cultural monuments that land on gag gifts perfect for your friends. So, it is not surprising that a decent chunk of marketing budgets go towards creating a damn good logo. But beyond aesthetic … Continue reading Just do it, or maybe not: do brand logos affect your spending habits?

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Lack of motivation? Fear of punishment? Why are we procrastinating?

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by Leyuan.Zang “I have to finish my work in 24 hours because I spend much of the time in playing video games or watching soap opera”. “I would rather lie in bed and waste my time than write my paper.” These situations are too familiar for us and the origin of them is same. Obnoxious procrastination ruins everything. But the most frustrating thing is that we all know the harm of procrastination, but we do seldom work to change. In other words, we always struggle before every deadline. So, we want to know what exactly causes our procrastination. Negative stimuli … Continue reading Lack of motivation? Fear of punishment? Why are we procrastinating?

Intrinsic motivation, Neuroscience, WellbeingLeave a comment

Approaching the Problem Positively is an Antidote to Your Frustration

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By Nuruliawati (Nuy) People hate losses and will do everything they can to avoid the pain of losing. I believe you also do. As Kahneman & Tversky’s famous Prospect Theory (1979) conveyed, we perceive loss as twice as painful as … Continue reading Approaching the Problem Positively is an Antidote to Your Frustration

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A ‘new’ version of you: A lasting effect of motherhood on decision-making

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by Nuruliawati (Nuy) Pregnancy and birth are not just emotional journeys, such as fluctuating daily moods, but they are also scientifically proven to impact decision-making. A former case study by Pogrebna et al. (2018) suggests that expectant mothers tend to … Continue reading A ‘new’ version of you: A lasting effect of motherhood on decision-making