What storytellers can learn from neuroscience
The chemistry of emotion and how Hitchcock controls our minds
We’ve always known stories transport people into new worlds. Now, thanks to MRI technology and biochemistry we are able to see that happening inside the brain. But what can storytellers learn from the scientists reading our minds?
There’s nothing more English than a summer wedding in the countryside. An old church, the bride in a beautiful dress…and a scientist taking blood samples.
If you’ve ever wondered what lengths scientists will go to for data, crashing a wedding is probably near the top. But that’s what Dr Paul Zak, from the Center for Neuroeconomics at Claremont Graduate University, found himself doing not long ago.
“I didn’t know a soul there,” he says “and I tried to talk them out of it.” Luckily the bride was a science journalist and had been convinced by her editor to set the table for one extra guest.
Dr Zak took blood samples from the bride, the groom and the mother of the bride at several points throughout the day. He tested for the hormone Oxytocin.
