Pinocchio Effect: When You Lie, Your Nose Temperature Rises

When a person lies, they experience a “Pinocchio effect,” which is an increase in the temperature around the nose and in the orbital muscle in the inner corner of the eye. When we perform a considerable mental effort our face temperature drops, and when we have an anxiety attack our face temperature rises.

Researchers from the University of Granada, Emilio Gómez Milán and Elvira Salazar López have been pioneers in applying thermography to the field of Psychology, and they have obtained very innovative and interesting results.

Thus, sexual excitement and desire can be identified in men and women using thermography, since they induce an increase in chest and genital temperature. This study demonstrates that -in physiological terms- men and women get excited at the same time, even although women say they are not excited or only slightly excited.

They said they have discovered that when a mental effort is made performing difficult tasks, being interrogated on a specific event or lying the face temperature changes.

When we lie on our feelings, the temperature around our nose raises and a brain element called “insula” is activated. The insula is a component of the brain reward system, and only activates when we experience real feelings (called “qualias”).

The insula is involved in the detection and regulation of body temperature. Therefore, there is a strong negative correlation between insula activity and temperature increase: the more active the insule (the greater the feeling) the lower the temperature change, and viceversa, the researchers’ state.

Researchers also determined the thermal footprint of aerobic exercise and different dance modalities such as ballet when a person is dancing flamenco the temperature in their buttocks drops and increases in their forearms. That is the thermal footprint of flamenco, and each dance modality has a specific thermal footprint, he explains.

The researchers have demonstrated that temperature asymmetries in both sides of the body and local temperature changes are associated with the physical, mental and emotional status of the subject. The thermogram is a somatic marker of subjective or mental states and allows us see what a person is feeling or thinking, he states.
A new study shows a link between your nose and lying. Much like Pinocchio.

Strong Sense Of Smell Linked To A Happy, Lasting Relationship
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But it seems that finding the perfect mate has less to do with how they look, and more to do with whether they get up your nose.

Researchers have found that a good sense of smell is key to successful, lasting relationships. They analysed data from men and women born with no sense of smell, known as anosmiacs, and compared the results with healthy individuals.

They discovered that a faulty sense of smell can led to insecurity and problems socialising and finding love for both sexes, although men were particularly affected.

On average men born without a sense of smell had two sexual partners, compared to ten for a normal male.

Although it didn’t affect the number of relationships for women – both types’ averaged four lovers – those without a sense of smell were 20 per cent more insecure about their partnerships, according to the research, published in the journal Biological Psychology.

Thomas Hummel, of Dresden University’s Smell and Taste Clinic, said, “In general, those with anosmia don’t know whether they have bad breath, stinky armpits, are drinking rotten milk or living in fishy-smelling apartments.

“Constantly wondering whether you smell bad makes a person insecure, and that could spill over into the person’s love life.”

Smell has long been portrayed as a trigger for arousal in men in a number of films, including Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman, where lead character Colonel Frank Slade can name or describe the appearance of women by their perfume alone.