Researchers from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have found that people are much better at remembering compliments and compliments uttered with the left ear. Then the sounds of the voice quickly activate the auditory cortex in the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for emotions. The results were published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
The study involved 13 volunteers—all right-handed. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brain’s response to different types of sounds coming from different directions. When participants listened to positive vocalizations from the left, they observed the greatest activation in the primary auditory cortex.
At the same time, negative or neutral expressions do not cause such a reaction in people – only a gentle, slightly hoarse voice evokes pleasant emotions, and not loud negative or neutral words. Scientists have also found that if you say nice things to someone from behind, that person is more easily provoked.
According to scientists, they do not know what this pattern is associated with and why people are more satisfied with compliments on the left. It remains unclear whether the same effect will continue for left-handed people, or whether their right ears will be most open to compliments. The team’s future research will focus on finding the answer to this question.