Football, Music and Advertising - What Brain Imaging Says About Your Super Bowl Experience
With more than one hundred million people having watched the Super Bowl, we set out to discover the insights brain imaging can provide into why this entertainment extravaganza of sports, music and advertising is appealing to so many of us.
Your Brain is a Super Fan
Are you guilty of coaching from the couch? Or whooping it up in the living room after a big win? Why Rooting for Your Team Makes Your Brain Feel Good published by The Cleveland Clinic explains. According to the article, neurons in our brains play along during the game causing us to experience the highs and lows right alongside the football players. Our brains release dopamine when following our favorite team from the collective sense of victory. Even casual fans can get wrapped up in the feel-good responses from cheering along with the crowd or having your region of the country represented.
Getting Chills from the Half-time Show
If you truly just hung out through the game for the half-time performance, have you ever wondered what music does to your brain? What Happens in the Brain When Music Causes Chills? published by Smithsonian.com explores this topic.
While scientists originally thought dopamine was once again the reason for this reaction, a new set of researchers using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) suspect otherwise. The DTI found that people who get chills from music have more nerve fibers connecting the part of the brain that processes sound with a part of the brain that helps process emotion. So, if you got the chills during Justin Timberlake’s performance, you may have actually had a profound emotional experience.
Mute the Game – Watch the Advertising
Did you shush fellow party goes during the commercials? Did you watch Peter Dinklage and Busta Rhymes versus Morgan Freeman and Missy Elliot ten times before the game even started? Science behind the brain’s response to advertising published by BusinessDay tells us why.
A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) observed brain activity through blood flow while participants watched advertising. It discovered participants responded most positively when ads appealed to imagination and mental stimulation. It states, “Ads that showed originality and innovation were most likely to make respondents follow up on the product.” Maybe all the creativity and money packed into these 30-60 second spots really are worth it.
Whether the football, the music, or the advertising was your favorite part of the event, we hope you enjoyed a few insights brain imaging provides as the reason behind it all.