Game of Thrones Fans Used to Study Facial Recognition and Face Blindness
What was that serial killer cult that Arya Stark joined in Braavos? The Faceless Men?
If you know exactly who I'm referring to, then you have already pictured this key character in the television series, Game of Thrones. Your brain got a rush of feelings and knowledge, as you thought about how Arya basically saved the day, even though she started off as an adorable little bratty sister in the first episode of Season 1.
There's a reason why I mention all of this: NEUROSCIENCE, baby!
I love watching the show Game of Thrones (and it's spinoff House of the Dragons). The plot lines are all over the map, literally and figuratively!
A recent study by scientists used Game of Thrones fans to test out how the brain works in correlating facial recognition and face blindness to known characters in a television show.
It sounds kind of complicated but if we break it down to the nuts and bolts, the study used MRI scans and lots of great television drama!
In Focus Group A, 70 people were who've never watched Game of Thrones, and Group B had.
People who didn't watch GOT had less brain activity when shown photos of the characters.
Wow, the brain is a marvelous things! It was observed and discovered how the brain links itself to knowledge inside your head that helps you recognize people.
When you recognize a face, your brain opens itself up like a Wikipedia page and floods you with knowledge about someone's personality, past actions, and more.
So that explains why I love certain characters more than others? Like Lady Tyrell? She is probably my favorite character on Game of Thrones. She didn't take any lip from Cersei or anybody else, for that matter!
The Game of Thrones Face Blindness tests also explored how these brain connections help out your mental health and social interactions, too.
Fascinating stuff. You can dig a little deeper into the logistics of this cool study on the Neuroscience News page.
Personally, I think this was just a sneaky way the neuroscientists got people to volunteer for the study: let them watch one of the biggest shows on TV!
I recently completed my second bingewatch of Game of Thrones. I finished all eight (8) seasons in about 3 weeks!
@gomesbrotherss Rastafarian Targaryen 🇯🇲🐉 / Emilia Clarke #fyp #gameofthrones #emilia #song #music #rap #dragons #coldplay #fun ♬ Originalton - GomesBrothers
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