A: cold
FEELING COLD IS CONTAGIOUS: If you think it’s weird that yawning is contagious, you’ll probably think it’s odd that feeling cold is contagious. In a new study, participants who were shown videos of actors sticking their hands in ice-cold water experienced a drop in the temperature of their own hands at the same time. Study leader and neuroscientist Neil Harrison says, “We believe that this mimicry of people’s bodily response helps us…to better understand their motivations and how they are feeling. Humans are profoundly social creatures and much of humans’ success results from our ability to work together in complex communities– this would be hard to do if we were not able to rapidly empathize with each other and predict one another’s thoughts, feelings and motivations.” The more naturally empathetic the person, the more likely they are to mimic another person’s body responses. (Daily Mail)
