Our immune system is effective at fighting disease, but it takes a lot of energy to do so. Therefore, experts suggest that the ability to recognize a potential source of the disease in time and avoid all contact with it is part of the survival instinct. To prove this, a group of scientists from the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) conducted a study, the results of which are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). What conclusion the researchers came to, estet-portal.com will tell further.
Recognize and Avoid: How the Brain Responds to Disease
The human brain is much better at recognizing diseases and trying to avoid them than previously thought. So says a group of researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. In their opinion, visual and olfactory information is enough for us to determine whether a person is sick or healthy, and subconsciously adjust our attitude towards him. The brain makes us "not love" infected people and avoid contact with them.
Swedish scientists' research was prompted by the theory that we treat healthy people better than sick people.
As part of the study, the volunteers were divided into two groups. The harmless "dose" was administered first. bacteria to stimulate an immune response: this group of subjects soon showed the typical first symptoms of infectious diseases – fatigue, fever, pain.
At this stage, the "patients" body odor samples were taken, photographed and videotaped.
A few hours after the injection, the drug that provoked the immune reaction was removed from the body, the symptoms of the disease also disappeared.
The second group of participants remained healthy throughout the study. At the same time, both groups were presented with pre-taken samples for olfactory and visual evaluation. The volunteers were given the task of – talk about your attitude and evaluate how healthy people were by photo and smell. During this, brain activity of the respondents was recorded using MRI.
After analyzing the data obtained, scientists concluded that by the smell and appearance of a person, we are not only able to determine whether he is sick or not, but also try to avoid communicating with unhealthy people, since they seem less attractive to us. Experts explain this behavior by the ability of the brain to recognize diseases and its desire to protect us from potential danger.
By the smell and appearance of a person, we are not only able to determine whether he is sick or not, but we also try to avoid communicating with unhealthy people, since they seem less attractive to us.
Professor Olsson from Karolinska Institute noted:
"Our study demonstrates how differently we perceive healthy people and those whose immune system has been activated artificially. We also saw that the brain is good at recognizing signals from the senses that help it make a conclusion about the state of human health.
At the same time, scientists have noticed one interesting factor: we react completely differently to the illnesses of our loved ones, showing exceptional care for them, despite the risk of infection.
Add a comment