Psychological curiosities that you probably didn’t know
Here you can find a series of surprising psychological curiosities.
1. Whenever we sleep, we dream
It is true that we are not always able to remember the dreams we have had, but several scientific investigations have revealed that brain activity during sleep causes us to dream when we reach the dream. REM phase during the break.
Studies show that we do not remember 90% of the content of our dreams and that, even if we were to remember them, we would forget half of this content within five minutes of waking up, since the brain captures new stimuli and tends to get rid of that information. If you want to remember your dreams more and better, it is quite useful to write down all your dreams in as much detail as possible on a notepad that you have on your nightstand, every day when you wake up.
2. How much does the brain weigh?
Men’s brains are slightly heavier than women’s. The average figure among men is 1,400 grams, while the female brain weighs 1,250 grams
This does not mean that men have greater intelligence than women, as we saw in the article “Are women or men more intelligent?” Although it is true that, some time ago, the first scientists who measured the weight of brains came, wrongly, to the conclusion that man must have greater intellectual gifts. The size difference is due to a principle of proportionality and while men are usually taller and heavier than women, the size of the brain adjusts to these body proportions, so the larger the body, the larger the brain.
When we face extreme situations of anguish, fear or danger, our body activates some innate mechanisms that allow us to flee to get away from danger In other words, we are designed to guarantee our survival, and thus that of the human species.
In these extreme situations in which we are in imminent danger, the adrenal glands are drastically activated and generate adrenalin a hormone that increases heart rate and constricts blood vessels, preparing the body to make high-intensity physical effort. It is for this reason that we are capable of undertaking almost superhuman actions when we are in a state of panic, as for example there has been the case of mothers who have managed to lift cars or very heavy objects to rescue a trapped child.
4. We grow while we sleep
When we sleep our brain secretes most of the hormone responsible for muscle growth and the bones. For this reason it is absolutely essential that children rest and sleep the necessary hours.
5. The “phantom limb”
Many similar cases have been reported: a person has a limb amputated, and later You begin to have the feeling that that limb is still in its place In fact, many cases reveal having suffered pain in the amputated limbs. This phenomenon is known as the “phantom limb syndrome ”. We detail it in the article “The phantom limb: mirror box therapy.”
The reason this happens originates in the brain. Apparently, the brain area in charge of regulating the mobility and touch of the limb is still active, and in the absence of real nervous stimuli, it tends to create them.
6. There are people incapable of recognizing faces
These cases of people who cannot recognize faces are caused by a disorder called prosopagnosia (from the Greek prosoponwhich means “face” and agnosiawhich refers to “lack of knowledge”), and this makes it impossible for them to recognize faces.
This impediment causes cannot recognize familiar faces, so they are unable to recognize those close to them through their image and must resort to observing some specific characteristics, such as the way they walk, the tone of voice, or some other distinctive feature except the face in order to be aware of who they are in front of. In more severe cases, those affected may not be able to recognize themselves in front of a mirror or seeing themselves in a photograph.
7. An antidepressant that causes uncontrollable orgasms
The essential chemical component of certain anti-depression drugs is clomipramine . This type of medication is not only used to remedy depression, but is also used in anxiety attacks, phobias and other types of disorders.
Some of the people who are treated with this type of drugs usually report that, at the beginning of treatment, experience uncontrollable orgasms at the moment of yawning It was estimated that up to 5% of patients noticed this strange effect, both men and women.
Although we could think of this as a positive side effect of the drug, the truth is that people who suffered from it had problems and discomfort in their daily lives.
8. Amnesia does allow you to remember
Although it is true that the idea is always conveyed that amnesia eliminates the past memories of the person who has suffered it after the trauma, in reality this type of amnesia, called “retrograde”, is very rare.
The most common type of amnesia is called anterograde amnesia. Is about an amnesia in which the person is able to remember practically everything from the past normally, but on the other hand he cannot remember anything of what he is experiencing, he is not able to remember what happened to him yesterday, or he is even unable to remember what he did ten minutes ago. This form of amnesia is the most common among people who suffer from dementia.
9. The Halo effect permeates everything
One of the psychological phenomena that most influence social relationships This is what is known as the Halo effect. This term describes a propensity to make global and positive evaluations about natural or legal persons, based on knowing one of their most notable characteristics.
For example, it has been observed that people who fit better with beauty standards tend to generate better impressions also regarding the rest of their characteristics by those who know little about them.
10. Memories always change
Another of the most interesting psychological curiosities has to do with memory. And although we often use the metaphor of files full of documents to refer to what the memories contained in our brain are like, the truth is that all our memories constantly change, no matter what we do. It is impossible for the contents of our memory to always remain the same
11. The limit of working memory
In most people, working memory works without too many problems unless the elements that we must preserve or manipulate in it are more than seven.
12. Two types of intelligence
Intelligence can be divided into two main categories: fluid intelligence, based on mental agility, and crystallized intelligence, based on the ability to use memorized information.
13. The importance of context in drug addictions
Drug addictions arise not only from the interaction of the brain with the substances consumed, but also from the context. Moving to a very different place and no longer having contact with old friends who also used makes the addiction disappear in many cases.
When faced with a series of elements to memorize (for example, the shopping list), we remember the first and the last best.
15. The third person effect
The psychological phenomenon called “third person effect” is that, as a general rule, We tend to believe that we are less susceptible to believing false information compared to most people and that those people with whom we have regular contact and whom we appreciate are also less gullible than the average citizen.
16. The face perception system
The human mind is especially good at recognizing small details in faces through the sense of vision; We are not as sensitive to the nuances of the rest of the body parts we see.
17. The nocebo effect
People who believe they should be treated and are not receiving that health care are more likely to develop health problems. This is known as the nocebo effect.
18. The relationship between sleep and memory
Every time we sleep, we contribute to the information collected during the day being consolidated in our memory.
19. Differences in theory of mind between men and women
Theory of mind is the ability to infer emotional and cognitive states in other people, without confusing what they believe, feel or think with what we believe, feel or think. It has been seen that women, on average, tend to have these skills more developed.
20. Diffuse ideologies
Although many people have very strong preferences as to which political parties are good and which are bad, in reality only a small minority present coherent and stable ideologies over time.
21. Binge eating without hunger
Many people eat without realizing that they are not hungry, simply to relieve their discomfort.
22. The limit of 150 in groups
Groups of more than 150 people (approximately) need a series of rules and clearly assigned roles that allow the creation of sub-groups to function well and not generate conflicts. This is what is known as the Dunbar number.
23. Anxiety and the immune system
It has been proven that staying in an anxious state for long periods causes the immune system to be weakened as long as that state of anguish or stress remains.
24. Pupils and attractiveness
When we look at something or someone that we find attractive, our pupils dilate more.
25. Lack of sleep leads to self-deception
People who sleep little have a much lower ability to concentrate and reason than other people (due to the fact of sleeping little) but not only that, but they also have a tendency not to realize it.
26. Blind spots of vision
The human eye is made in such a way that in our visual field there is a point where we do not capture visual stimuli, since in that place the retina fuses with the optic nerve. However, we do not realize this, because our brain “makes up” that information.
27. The ability to create images in the mind has cerebral foundations
The degree to which we are able to create images in our imagination depends on the level of random neural activity in a part of the brain known as the visual cortex.
28. Friends matter more than parents
Although the family greatly influences the development of children, groups of friends their age are even more influential.
29. The Forer effect
Human beings are predisposed to identify with ambiguous descriptions of people, we quickly assume that we fit what is explained.
30. Opposites do not attract
Couples made up of people with very different interests or personalities tend to go through more problems than those made up of similar people.
