Proxemics: ethology to neuroscience
The size of what we believe our "personal space", the violation by a stranger makes us uncomfortable, are determined by the amygdala. To establish and research conducted by neuroscientists California Institute of Technology (Caltech), who talk about it in an article published in the journal Nature Neuroscience .
It is known that the amygdala is a brain structure heavily involved in processing emotions, particularly negative ones like anger and fear, but so far none had shown a direct link with the management of social interactions of everyday life.
The interpersonal distance is not something you normally think in a conscious way, but its violation calls for immediate attention to it. In different cultures, the interpersonal distance acceptable varies greatly, and the people who live in cultures where space is almost a luxury, as in Japan or in some areas of China, seem to be much more tolerant of distances much smaller than they they are typically Europeans and Americans, albeit with wide variations related to different situations in a crowded subway, for example, this particular area tends to shrink considerably.
The idea to undertake the research that led to this discovery was almost accidental and related to the observation of the behavior of a patient, SM, researchers charge. "MS is unique since it is one of the few people in the world, a handful, that has such a well-defined bilateral amygdala lesion and this gave us the opportunity to study the role of the amygdala in the human being," says Ralph Adolphs, who with Daniel P. Kennedy led the study.
In studying patients with MS, which among other things, has difficulty recognizing fear in the face of others, have noted that it "is extremely sociable and is close to the other much more than normal, one thing that is obvious when you interact with her. "
" Respect the space of a person is a critical aspect of social interaction and is something we do automatically and without effort, "says Kennedy." These findings suggest that the amygdala, which is essential to prove the strong feelings of discomfort that help keep the distances between people, has a central role in this process. And help us to expand our understanding of its role in social interactions in the real world. "( days )
It is known that the amygdala is a brain structure heavily involved in processing emotions, particularly negative ones like anger and fear, but so far none had shown a direct link with the management of social interactions of everyday life.
The interpersonal distance is not something you normally think in a conscious way, but its violation calls for immediate attention to it. In different cultures, the interpersonal distance acceptable varies greatly, and the people who live in cultures where space is almost a luxury, as in Japan or in some areas of China, seem to be much more tolerant of distances much smaller than they they are typically Europeans and Americans, albeit with wide variations related to different situations in a crowded subway, for example, this particular area tends to shrink considerably.
The idea to undertake the research that led to this discovery was almost accidental and related to the observation of the behavior of a patient, SM, researchers charge. "MS is unique since it is one of the few people in the world, a handful, that has such a well-defined bilateral amygdala lesion and this gave us the opportunity to study the role of the amygdala in the human being," says Ralph Adolphs, who with Daniel P. Kennedy led the study.
In studying patients with MS, which among other things, has difficulty recognizing fear in the face of others, have noted that it "is extremely sociable and is close to the other much more than normal, one thing that is obvious when you interact with her. "
" Respect the space of a person is a critical aspect of social interaction and is something we do automatically and without effort, "says Kennedy." These findings suggest that the amygdala, which is essential to prove the strong feelings of discomfort that help keep the distances between people, has a central role in this process. And help us to expand our understanding of its role in social interactions in the real world. "( days )
TAKEN FROM http://lescienze.espresso.repubblica.it
0 comments:
Post a Comment