If you’re feeling anxious or depressed, try watching videos of kittens or puppies. In fact, looking at any critter that is a tiny version of something larger can turn on the brains happiness chemicals. We call these being “cute” and scientists refer to this phenomena as “baby schema”. They describe it as the appearance of any living creature having a big head, round face and large low lying eyes on a small body.
They are discovering that observing it activates the same pleasure centers in the brain that hooks us on chocolate and wine. Japanese researchers call this quality of cute “kawaii” and they’ve found that observing it can boost your mood as well as concentration, by tapping in to the same chemical reward systems in the brain that makes cocaine addictive.
What’s more, they have accumulated scientific evidence that viewing cute things improves attention focus and performance in tasks that require carefulness. In the psychology textbook, The Aesthetics of Affects and Cuteness, researchers even discuss the possibility that cute could unify humanity. By changing the way, we see each other and the world we live in, they say that cuteness can stimulate care-taking behaviors and cause us to view each other with a greater sense of empathy and commonality.
