For thousands of years, humans have relied on storytelling to engage, to
share emotions and to relate personal experiences. Now, psychologists at
McMaster University are exploring the mechanisms deep within the brain to
better understand just what happens when we communicate.
New research published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,
suggests that no matter how a narrative is expressed—through words, gestures or
drawings—our brains relate best to the characters, focusing on the thoughts and
feelings of the protagonist of each story.
“We tell stories in conversation each and every day,” explains Steven
Brown, lead author of the study, who runs the NeuroArts Lab at McMaster and is
an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and
Behaviour. “Very much like literary stories, we engage with the characters and
are wired to make stories people-oriented.”
An important question researchers set out to answer was how, exactly,
narrative ideas are communicated using three different forms of expression, and
to identify a so-called narrative hub within the brain.
For the study, researchers scanned the brains of participants using fMRI
and presented them with short headlines. For example, “Surgeon finds scissors
inside of patient” or “Fisherman rescues boy from freezing lake.”
They were then asked to convey the stories using speech, gestures or
drawing, as one would do in a game of Pictionary. The illustrations were
created using an MRI-compatible drawing tablet which allowed the participants
to see their drawings.
Researchers found that no matter what form of story telling the
participants used, the brain networks that were activated were the
“theory-of-the-mind” network, which is affected by the character’s intentions,
motivations, beliefs, emotions and actions.
“Aristotle proposed 2,300 years ago that plot is the most important aspect
of narrative, and that character is secondary,” says Brown. “Our brain results
show that people approach narrative in a strongly character-centered and
psychological manner, focused on the mental states of the protagonist of the
story.”
Next, researchers hope to compare narration and acting to determine what
happens when we tell stories in the third-person or portray characters in the
first-person.
Journal article:
https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.1162/jocn_a_01294
https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.1162/jocn_a_01294
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