How do our brains recognize faces? This is an incredibly complex question, because the process of facial recognition is an almost miraculously instantaneous one. As discussed in a previous blog, we don’t need to make a careful study of somebody’s face to recognize them. Instead, we just know who someone is, which is really amazing,…
Read MoreAnxiety and Ambiguity
Why does that person look so angry? You don’t have to have any sort of chronic anxiety to understand how easy it is to misunderstand other people’s facial expressions. We often interact with strangers, or even friends, and find ourselves unable to read their emotions, fearing that they are unhappy or angry. In fact, newly…
Read MoreDistractions from the Standing Desk
The idea of standing desks is certainly in vogue in the workplace, but is it the best choice? Proponents point out that sitting for too long can have serious health problems, and many people even argue that standing at one’s desk can help boost productivity. While there may be some truth in this trendy approach,…
Read MoreWhy Do We Smile?
You’ve probably heard that when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you. In reality, that’s not exactly the case. According to researchers, Americans smile more than residents of other countries, and those other countries don’t seem eager to follow our grins. For some, persistent American smiling can be disconcerting. To learn more, we talked…
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