From: Pacific Standard
A Brainy New Way of Looking at Friendship
How do we choose our friends? Beyond family ties, there has always been something of a mystery as to why we form close bonds with certain individuals. Sometimes, it seems, two people just click.
According to a new study, that fantastic feeling reflects the fact you and your bestie are, neurally speaking, mirror images of one another.
“These results suggest that we are exceptionally similar to our friends in how we perceive, and respond to, the world around us,” writes a research team led by psychologist Carolyn Parkinson of the University of California–Los Angeles.
So similar, in fact, that it’s possible to predict the intensity of a friendship by analyzing how two people’s brains respond to a range of stimuli. The “I barely know the guy” defense in criminal conspiracy cases may have just suffered a big blow.
Read the whole story (subscription may be required): Pacific Standard
More of our Members in the Media >
APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.
Please login with your APS account to comment.