This part of brain decides what goes viral

University of California at Los Angeles psychologists have identified, for the first time, the brain regions associated with the successful spread of ideas, often called "buzz".

The research has a broad range of implications, the study authors say, and could lead to more effective public health campaigns, more persuasive advertisements and better ways for teachers to communicate with students, according to a report in Science Daily.

"Our study suggests that people are regularly attuned to how the things they're seeing will be useful and interesting, not just to themselves but to other people," said the study's senior author, Matthew Lieberman, a UCLA professor of psychology and of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and author of the forthcoming book "Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect."

The study findings are published in the online edition of the journal Psychological Science, with print publication to follow later this summer.