Liar, liar: what is the Pinocchio effect and how does it help you find a liar (5 photos)

They don't like liars. But one way or another, everyone lies. Surprisingly, only great apes and humans are capable of this. Therefore, scientists are studying how lies manifest themselves, and here and there on the Internet we are advised how to expose a liar. But there is a “Pinocchio effect” that will kill any cunning liar. Let's tell you what it is.





So, first of all, let us remind you who this Pinocchio of yours is. This is the Western analogue of our Pinocchio, the wooden boy. The difference is that when Pinocchio lied, his wooden nose extended.



True, it turns out that in real life a liar's nose shrinks a little. This, of course, is not visible to the naked eye, but there is a way to see the metamorphoses. And all because the nose gets colder when lying by 1-2 degrees, which is clearly visible in the infrared spectrum.

So, the group of the Spanish doctor Emilio Gomez Milan experimented on volunteers. People were asked to dial the number of a close acquaintance, relative or friend and start lying. They lied about such things as, for example, the fact that they met a celebrity on the street. Well, or you saw a terrible accident.





At this moment, the faces of the volunteers were monitored using thermal imagers. These are special devices that help obtain infrared images. They show how different areas of the same object are painted in different colors. Those that are warmer are red, and those that are even warmer are yellow.

In total, one hundred people took the test. And eighty of them had their noses cold when they lied, and their foreheads, on the contrary, warmed up, and this was also noticeable. Therefore, according to the study, the Pinocchio effect turned out to be more visual than any lie detector. Moreover, the effectiveness turned out to be as much as 10% higher.

In general, according to a study by scientists, it turned out that the nose gets cold from anxiety. We experience it because of the desire or need to lie. And the forehead, in turn, heats up due to brain activity, which is necessary for lying.



Interestingly, simple anxiety does not make your nose cold. We checked this, again, with the help of road accidents: volunteers were shown footage of terrible accidents on screens, and they, again, told their friends about it on the phone. And their noses did not get cold, although the anxiety was obvious.

As for foreheads, scientists from University College London found that when a person lies, the prefrontal, parietal and associative motor areas of the cortex of both hemispheres are activated. This is clearly visible on MRI. All stages of lying are traced there, including preparation for it.



By the way, you can get rid of the Pinocchio effect. All the same scientists from University College found that with systematic lying, the brain shows less and less activity, and constant lying completely deprives you of anxiety and fear. Because it produces cortisol, which relieves stress, and testosterone, which takes away your fear.

So it is likely that real liars will be able to completely get rid of their cold nose.