Just a Smile
Why putting on a friendly face might make you more memorable
By Katherine Leitzell
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
“You’re never fully dressed without a smile,” sang Little Orphan Annie in the Broadway musical. It turns out Annie may have been giving some shrewd advice—studies have repeatedly shown that people remember smiling faces better than neutral ones. Now researchers at Duke University have found a physical explanation for the phenomenon. Roberto Cabeza and his colleagues “introduced” volunteers to a number of people by showing them a picture and telling them a name. Using MRI, the investigators found that both learning and recalling the names associated with smiling faces preferentially activated the orbitofrontal cortex, an area of the brain involved in reward processing. Cabeza says that although the studies are preliminary, it makes evolutionary sense that a smile would be rewarding to the onlooker. “We are sensitive to positive social signals,” Cabeza explains. “We want to remember people who were kind to us, in case we interact with them in the future.”
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
