And scientists suspect that's why the brain starts producing aggressive thoughts. 'Both systems in the brain are involved in this experience of cute aggression.' 'It's not just reward and it's not just emotion,' Stavropoulos says.

That suggests people who think about squishing puppies appear to be driven by two powerful forces in the brain. But the more cute aggression a person felt, the more activity the scientists saw in the brain's reward system. The study found that for the entire group of participants, cuter creatures were associated with greater activity in brain areas involved in emotion. Others were made extra adorable, meaning 'big cheeks, big eyes, small noses - all these features we associate with cuteness,' Stavropoulos says. Some had been manipulated to look less appealing. The images included both grown-ups and babies. So she and a colleague recorded the electrical activity in the brains of 54 young adults as they looked at images of animals and people. I just want to eat it.'Ĭute aggression was first described by researchers at Yale University several years ago.īut Stavropoulos, a cute aggressor herself, wanted to know what it looked like in the brain. Stavropoulos says they think, 'This is weird I'm probably the only one who feels this way. The thoughts appear to be an involuntary response to being overwhelmed by a positive emotion.Ĭute aggression is often baffling and embarrassing to the people who experience it. 'When people feel this way, it's with no desire to cause harm,' Stavropoulos says.

Cat wide eyes squish head meme