Ever find yourself doing something without knowing exactly why?
You might swat at a fly before you consciously realize it is
there, or you might catch yourself scratching a bug bite you
were trying to forget about. A new study published in
Psychological Science could help explain why: half of the brain
can be subliminally motivated while the other half is left in
the dark. Researchers at INSERM in Paris first measured how hard
33 subjects could squeeze a grip with each hand. Then they
presented the subjects with images on a computer screen of
either a one-euro coin or a one-cent coin. The coins were
visible to only one eye at a time, and they appeared for only 17
milliseconds—long enough for subliminal, but not conscious,
processing. After each coin image flashed, the subjects squeezed
the grip with whatever hand they were holding it in—they were
told they would win a fraction of the coin’s value depending on
the amount of effort they exerted. Each subject got to try all
four possible combinations of eyes and