It's Official: Men's Brains Shut Down by Bikinis

This is a fun post to write. Mainly because I had to choose an image to accompany it .

We men always "believed" that a certain part of our brain shuts down whenever a beautiful woman passes by, or flashes on the screen for a second. For years it was a myth - now it's science.

According to a research published by Susan Fiske, professor of psychology at Princeton University, in men, the brain areas associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis.

This is just the first study which was focused on the idea that men of a certain age view sex as a highly desirable goal, and if you present them with a provocative woman, then that will tend to prime goal-related responses

And the part that exonerates us is the sub-conscious decision process involved:

"They're not fully conscious responses, and so people don't know the extent to which they're being influenced," Fiske said. "It's important to recognize the effects."

The research has other conclusions about sub-conscious behavior, including highlighting latent sexism in some of the test subjects. You can read the full report in this CNN article.

As for me, this is the first time (and probably the last) I have a (scientific) excuse to post a beautiful woman's picture to my blog. And just to keep it local-patriotic, it's a picture of Bar Rafaeli .