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Research psychologists believe they have identified the areas of the brain that are active when an idea is deemed interesting. Psychologists at the University of California-Los Angeles say the discovery may help scientists predict the successful spread of ideas including the identification of which messages will go viral on social media. Authors say the knowledge could lead to more effective public health campaigns, more persuasive advertisements and better ways for teachers to communicate with students. “Our study suggests that people are regularly attuned to how the things they’re seeing will be useful and interesting, not just to themselves but to other people, ” said the study’s senior author, Matthew Lieberman, Ph.D. “We always seem to be on the lookout for who else will find this helpful, amusing or interesting, and our brain data are showing evidence of that. At the first encounter with information, people are already using the brain network involved in thinking about how this can be interesting to other people. “We’re wired to want to share information with other people. I think that is a profound statement about the social nature of our minds.” The study findings are published in the online edition of the journal Psychological Science. “Before this study, we didn’t know what brain regions were associated with ideas that become contagious, and we didn’t know what regions were associated with being an effective communicator of ideas, ” said lead author Emily Falk. “Now we have mapped the brain regions associated with ideas that are likely to be contagious and are associated with being a good ‘ide