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How the brain creates the ‘buzz’ that helps ideas spread

How do ideas spread? What messages will go viral on social media, and can this be predicted?

UCLA psychologists have taken a significant step toward answering these questions, identifying for the first time the brain regions associated with the successful spread of ideas, often called “buzz.”

The research has a broad range of implications, the study authors say, and could lead to more effective public health campaigns, more persuasive advertisements and better ways for teachers to communicate with students. (more…)

Resolved to Quit Smoking? Brain Scans Predict Likely Success

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2011Health, Sciencebrain activity, brain scans, carbon monoxide, cigarette, co, danielle whalen, elliot berkman, emily falk, fmri, functional magnetic resonance imaging, heavy smokers, matthew lieberman, medial prefrontal cortex, neural reactions, particular brain region, predict, predict behavior change, quit smoking, resolution, smokers, television ads

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Brain scans showing neural reactions to pro-health messages can predict if you’ll keep that resolution to quit smoking more accurately than you yourself can. That’s according to a new study forthcoming in Health Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal.

“We targeted smokers who were already taking action to quit,” said Emily Falk, the lead author of the study and director of the Communication Neuroscience Laboratory at the U-M Institute for Social Research and Department of Communication Studies. “And we found that neural activity can predict behavior change, above and beyond people’s own assessment of how likely they are to succeed. (more…)

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How the brain creates the ‘buzz’ that helps ideas spread

Resolved to Quit Smoking? Brain Scans Predict Likely Success