Tag: Perception

More is better when coordinating with others

Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Imperial College London and the University of Tokyo have demonstrated that physical coordination is more beneficial in larger groups. The researchers used robotic interfaces to test coordination in groups of two, three and four partners, and found that performance was improving with every additional group member. The researchers believe

Oral contraceptives could impair women’s recognition of complex emotions: Healthy women who use birth control pills are poorer judges of subtle facial expressions than non-users, according to new research

The pill could be blurring your social judgement — but perhaps not enough so you’d notice. By challenging women to identify complex emotional expressions like pride or contempt, rather than basic ones like happiness or fear, scientists have revealed subtle changes in emotion recognition associated with oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use. Published in Frontiers in

Gasp! First audio map of oohs, aahs and uh-ohs spans 24 emotions: Those spontaneous nonverbal exclamations we make speak volumes

Ooh, surprise! Those spontaneous sounds we make to express everything from elation (woohoo) to embarrassment (oops) say a lot more about what we’re feeling than previously understood, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. Proving that a sigh is not just a sigh, UC Berkeley scientists conducted a statistical analysis of listener

Different brain areas linked to smoking and drinking

Academics at the University of Warwick have found that low functional connectivity of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex that is associated with the tendency to smoke is associated with increased impulsiveness — which may contribute to the tendency to smoke. The high connectivity of the reward-related medial orbitofrontal cortex in drinkers may increase the tendency to

To predict the future, the brain uses two clocks: In music, sports and other activities, we calculate movement in two different parts of the brain

That moment when you step on the gas pedal a split second before the light changes, or when you tap your toes even before the first piano note of Camila Cabello’s “Havana” is struck. That’s anticipatory timing. One type relies on memories from past experiences. The other on rhythm. Both are critical to our ability

Journalism study evaluates emotions on the job

A QUT journalism academic says the current freelancer-heavy market for media professionals could be preventing photographers and video journalists who report on traumatic news events from accessing the support they need. The results of TJ Thomson’s peer-reviewed study Mapping the emotional labor and work of visual journalism has been published in Journalism. “People understand exposure

Virtual reality motion sickness may be predicted and counteracted

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have made progress towards predicting who is likely to feel sick from virtual reality technology. In a recent study, the researchers found they could predict whether an individual will experience cybersickness (motion sickness caused by virtual reality) by how much they sway in response to a moving visual field.

Brain arousal compound noradrenaline plays critical role in sensory perception: Discovery paves way for detecting situations of dangerous lapses and for improving anesthesia protocols

Being aware of our surroundings is a fundamental aspect of our existence. But what in our biological makeup determines how we access and interpret the endless stream of information around us? A new Tel Aviv University study published in Current Biology suggests that noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter responsible for arousal in the brain, plays a vital