IF YOU must offend someone, wait until they鈥檙e lying down: a brain-scan study shows that people may contain their anger better when horizontal.
Seated subjects who heard personal insults showed brain activity linked to so-called approach motivation. 鈥淚n this state, one might be more likely to attack,鈥� says of Texas A&M University in College Station, who led the study. The activity disappeared when students took their insults lying down, though they still felt angry.
鈥淢aybe in the reclining state you鈥檙e more likely to brood,鈥� says Harmon-Jones. He worries that MRI studies which scan subjects as they are lying down could miss the neural signs of some emotions.
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