Does Music Elicit Universal Emotional Responses?

It’s no mystery that major and minor chords in western music makes us feel good. But could this be because of an evolutionary trait? Recent research led by Eline Adrianne Smit and colleagues from the MARCS Institute for Brain suggests this could be the case. Turn to any major pop radio station in the Western…

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Disgust and Fear Linked To More Acidity In Stomach

We’ve all experienced “gut feelings” but a new study out of Sapienza University supports the idea that these feelings could be tied to physiological changes. Researchers in Rome investigated how emotional states such as disgust and fear could affect acidity levels in the gut. The Methodology Giuseppina Porciello and her team asked 31 men whose…

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Alex Murdaugh Body Language Analysis by Dr. David Matsumoto

The Alex Murdaugh trial has garnered much attention in recent days, and for good reason: a public figure with a lot of money is tried and convicted of a vicious crime. As with many criminal trials in popular culture, the body language and demeanor of Alex Murdaugh has received a lot of attention. In this…

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How Communicating Through a Screen Affects Your Brain

Zoom. Microsoft Teams. Messenger. FaceTime. Skype. You’re probably familiar with all these video conferencing platforms and since the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been using them more than ever before. As we mentioned in a past blog, one 2021 survey shows that 54% of professionals now attend more (virtual) meetings than they used to pre-pandemic (in-person).…

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