According to a neuroscientist, our brains are hardwired to keep falling for the latest beauty fads. It’s a booby trap too many of us fall down – and I should know
Kim Kardashian once admitted that if someone told her eating faeces every day would make her look younger, “I just might”.
I’d like to think I wouldn’t go that far, but yesterday I clicked on the link for an article about anti-ageing trousers, so if the theory behind it was convincing enough, who knows.
Now a neuroscientist has explained how our brains are hardwired to keep falling for the latest beauty fads, and what we can do about it. “Seeing an attractive face activates the brain’s reward and social circuits – releasing the feelgood hormone dopamine,” writes Laura Elin Pigott, a senior lecturer in neurosciences and neurorehabilitation at London South Bank University. “This hormone is also released when we happen to live up to a specific beauty standard, making this feel biologically gratifying.”
All is not lost though – our perceptions can be retrained, apparently. “The science makes it clear: our brains respond to what they’re fed. Armed with this knowledge, we can become aware of the manipulation and choose to reclaim control over our own perceptions of beauty.”
