We have all, on more than one occasion, desired something that others have. A new scientific study explains why other people’s possessions always seem better to us and we want them so badly.
For neuroscientist Mathias Pessiglione from INSERM in Paris, copying other people’s desires and actions is a good method to learn about the environment; for example, eating a food that others eat is a simple way to avoid food poisoning.
To check what happens in our brain when we want what others have, Pessiglione and his team presented two videos to a group of volunteers, one showed chocolates on a table, in the second a hand chose a chocolate among several, at the same time The brain activity of each participant was monitored.
Then they had to rate the sweets they saw, the best rated chocolate was the one from the second presentation, that is, the one chosen by another person. The same effect was maintained when carrying out the experiment with clothing, tools and even toys.
Brain scans revealed that desiring things that others possess appears to be based on a double system. One is the system of mirror or specular neurons (parietal lobe and premotor cortex), which are activated producing in our brain a neuronal pattern similar to the action that we see another person perform, and the second system is the one made up of the ventral striatum. and ventromedial prefrontal cortex which is involved in deciding which item has the greatest value.
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However, not all subjects reacted with equal intensity to the same stimuli, in other words, not everyone desires the same things and not all things are desired equally. According to specialists, the greater the desire, the greater social influence a person will have in relation to an element.
Researchers believe that new work can be carried out to better understand this double system, which they consider to be the basis of human envy.
Regardless of whether or not it is the basis of envy, it is good to reflect on what happens in our UCCM (body-brain-mind unit) when we are bombarded by so many stimuli presented to us, happy people consuming products that may be harmful to our health or welfare. We must ask ourselves: Do we want them, do we seek to get them, or are we capable of making the right decision? At least one thing is clear: if we begin to neuropsychoeducate ourselves and get to know these systems, we will be more attentive to being able to model our behaviors when we desire things that we never want. They guarantee our happiness and, on the contrary, make us feel that we are always missing something.
Fountain: Dr. Nse. Carlos Logatt Grabner President of Asociación Educar.
Image: on Flickr
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