Hello all after a one-week break. Thank you for returning and reading this blog space! Glad you want to know more about your brain. I know you missed this. If not, at least you could pretend that you did miss it! Oh okay…you never pretend you say….but we all lie, pretend, do and say false things….especially those who say “I like Pineapple Pizza!” Have you ever thought about how does pretending affect your brain?
First of all, please understand that we, humans do not possess this quality by birth. As we grow and observe the world around us, we LEARN to be dishonest. It is the skill (If you may) we acquire. Research suggested that head injury to PFC (Pre-Frontal-Cortex) can permanently damage this quality of yours. Thus, PFC helps us to decide “to lie, or not to lie”. Do you remember your first ever lie? You probably don’t. When a child/person lies for the first time, the amygdala gets activated. It is a brain region assigned for processing fear, guilt, etc emotions. As the lies increases, amygdala activity towards it decreases. In simple words, your brain gets adapted to lying! Your brain imbibes the “Once a liar, always a liar” phrase. Damn….why doesn’t it stop us from lying in the first place? I don’t know. The reason may be your brain is not well developed to assess the consequences of lying and PFC gets confused. Whatever it is, it doesn't change the fact that we pretend a lot! Studies have shown that women lie more about altruism (to not hurt others' feelings) and men lie more often to impress others! Interestingly, to be a psychotic liar you have to have more intellect. Let’s be honest it not only takes PFC and amygdala but also the temporal lobe for memory retrieval, creating imaginary stories and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) for monitoring errors… Phew…brain gotta work in double shifts when you are pretending! Only smarty pants can keep lying again and again.
In this world of “fake it, till you make it”, we, unfortunately, do not have the superpower to detect lies. You could lie easily but you can’t identify one easily. After knowing all this, isn’t it easy to be honest? Why stress our limbic system unnecessary? So, stop for a while to think before you pretend next time. Life is hard as it is….Don’t order pineapple pizza.
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