I Love me some me
Bottom Line: The eternal words popularized by Terrell Owens came to mind with this particular story. That’s because a recent study really found that we love looking at ourselves. Yeah, some shy away from mirrors and you might even think critically of yourself at times but deep down you’re enjoying what you’re seeing in the mirror. Where is this coming from? Osaka University. In fact, they probably unlocked the reason selfies became so popular in the first place.
According to researchers conducting the self-image study, participants got hits of dopamine when presented with their own image. This means that even if your self-affinity isn’t as overt as T.O., you’re still happy to see yourself at least subliminally. The lead researcher’s summation statement was this: We found that activation in the ventral tegmental area, which is a central component of the dopamine reward pathway, was stronger for subliminal presentations of the participant’s face compared with faces of others. Our findings indicate that the dopamine reward pathway is involved in enhanced processing of one’s own face even when the information is subliminal.
That’s all a fancy way of saying. I love me some me. Somewhat seriously though – selfies might actually be a way for you to find a mood enhancer when you need one. Just leave the sticks out of it please. That’s a little too T.O.
Photo Credit: Getty Images