Fascination: the emotion with the greatest impact on the brain

Fascination is the emotion most desired by neuromarketing experts. Also for every artist, filmmaker or content creator. They all know that if they are able to awaken that feeling in people, they have already triumphed. Because whoever feels fascinated by something does not forget that stimulus, the psychological imprint achieved lasts and dazzles, awakens positive sensations and inspires.

Let’s now answer a simple question. When was the last time we experienced this emotion? Maybe it was after seeing a work of art, maybe a movie. It is possible that we felt fascinated by a landscape, by a piece of music, by a latest technological advance or, why not, by a specific person. Few realities orchestrated by the brain are so pleasant.

This is because of a fact as striking as it is interesting. Fascination falls into that spectrum that we usually classify as “positive emotions”, but in reality it is capable of provoking in us an endless number of sensations, feelings and thoughts. When we are fascinated we feel happy, joyful, inspired, interested, amazed and sometimes even in love.

As we can well deduce from this, we are undoubtedly facing a psychophysiological state of great importance. So much so that, often, An attempt is made to instrumentalize this emotion to influence others. The person or people who manage to fascinate a certain group will not only capture their attention, but will also have acceptance and even admiration in their favor.

Fascination, the most desired emotion

Something that teachers and any educator know is that You have to awaken the spark of fascination in children. It is necessary for the teacher or professor to know how to generate this emotion through the content so that teaching is more motivating. This emotion creates a great impact on the child’s mind and only in this way do we encourage interest not only in learning, but also in discovering.

Fascination is a high-power mental state. And it is basically for a reason. Any stimulus that generates fascination almost instantly activates our limbic system., that brain region linked to emotions. Thus, once this area is stimulated, endorphins begin to be released, the pleasure hormones that even facilitate the focusing of attention and the flow of new ideas.

On the other hand, it is interesting to know that The term “fascinate” has its Latin roots in another word from which it derives: bewitch. It is curious to know that for a long time this word had a negative connotation. It was believed that anyone who experienced fascination was a captive of some evil power, of some strange influence capable of subduing the will of others.

Today, that conception no longer has a place. Because if there is one thing we know from a psychological point of view, it is that Feeling fascinated by something is the result of a psychological process of high well-being and transcendence. .

Innovation and fascination always go hand in hand

The big brands on the market, especially the technology ones, know that If you want to reach your customers, you must achieve a great emotional impact. If we are not excited about that product, it is not worth it. Even more, if a new product fails to generate fascination it is because it has not been innovated enough.

Because fascination is defined by a series of very specific components:

What fascinates us also challenges us because it appears before us as something different that instantly captures our attention. The brain is attracted to something different, stimulating and attractive. Likewise, it generates desire, expectation and great curiosity in us.If something fascinates us, it is in turn producing confidence and security in us.. It doesn’t matter if it is something new, if it is fascinating it is desirable and if we want it, it generates closeness.

When you feel fascinated you live in the moment and you are in a state of flow

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has also studied the emotion of fascination to relate it to the state of flow. He himself explains to us that feeling fascinated is not the same as feeling interested in something. It’s about something deeper.

It’s almost like falling in love, because it injects us with a state of absolute concentration.. We focus on the here and now and experience a feeling of absolute commitment to that something.

The power of aesthetic fascination

Fascination is key to aesthetic emotions. Rafael Bisquerra, professor at the University of Barcelona, ​​defines aesthetic emotion as the response generated by what the brain interprets as beautiful. However, we could go further. Because in reality, we don’t only get excited about what is pleasing or attractive to the eyes.

The brain also experiences fascination with what arouses mystery and arouses deep interest in it. Thus, studies such as the one carried out at the University of Belgrade (Serbia) give us something relevant. Few things have a greater impact on our minds than what seems ambiguous to us. When an aesthetic stimulus appears that combines something known with something unknown. the brain awakens, is inspired and is impressed.

Because what fascinates us drives us to want to know more. It’s like looking at the Great Sphinx of Giza. We are attracted by its dimensions, location, shape and history. However, what really catches us is the mystery, not so much its beauty. When the aesthetic is combined with the challenging, the imprint is greater and our emotions become powerful…

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