Do you watch THESE videos? It's because of your brain
If you think that you have chosen your favorite film genres, you are right, you think. New research shows that this information may be permanently ingrained in your brain, according to new research. It all depends on what gives you more satisfaction.
German scientists discovered that people have their favorite movie genre because it activates pleasant emotions making us want to come back for more. According to the Daily Mail, this is the first study to examine how our movie preferences are related to our brain. The results have just been published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. Interestingly, the functioning of our brain depends on the genre we are currently watching.
Reward system and movies
The experiment involved a total of 257 participants, of which 128 were women and 129 men. Subjects were asked to choose their two favorite species from eight options. Then selected the two most popular combinations in comedy/action and thriller/documentary sets and were shown images of terrified and angry faces. Simultaneously The participants' brains were continuously monitored using electrodes monitoring their activity.
Measurements have shown that people prefer movies action and comedy, showed increased activity in the amygdala and another region that is crucial for motivated behavior when viewing negative emotional stimuli. According to scientists, this is probably because these participants enjoy the intense emotions that these genres often evoke. The team also found that comedies activate the reward system in response to emotional stimuli in which a person appreciates the use of these film genres.
What about the fans? thrillers and documentaries? They, in turn, showed reduced activity of the limbic system, which is supposed to indicate lower emotional response to fear and anger. This suggests that this group experiences reward from cognitive engagement rather than emotional arousal. The results also suggest that crime and thriller enthusiasts may find more satisfaction in solving puzzles and/or prolonged tension.
Hence the scientists' conclusion that our brains determine which movies we like more based on the mechanisms already existing in them. The head apparently checks whether a given species is the best at passing the reward system test and will demand more from us. And streaming platforms are just waiting for it.
