How are you spending this Christmas?

But not all of us think about shopping in the same way. And sometimes parting with our hard-earned cash can hurt and outweighs the pleasure of the new purchase. Shopping activates specific regions of the brain, some provide positive feedback to bring about a sense of happiness, while others actually trigger a sense of pain and displeasure.

In a research study, neuroscientists scanned people’s brains as they considered a range of shopping items and noticed metabolic changes in three regions of the brain.

As anticipated, the nucleus accumbens showed more activity. This area is associated with the reward pathway of the brain and is activated upon consideration of a desirable item. Individuals who frequently engage in retail therapy may experience a higher degree of activity in this area.

But when the study volunteers were given the prices for the items, the part of their prefrontal cortex associated with executive functioning, particularly decision-making, lit up, as did the insula – the area implicated in processing pain and negative emotions. Individuals who are cost conscious or stingy may experience a greater degree of insular activation and subjects with the busiest insulas were most likely to decide against the purchase.

During the deliberation of the value of the item in comparison to its price, the mesial prefrontal cortex is activated. This area is generally associated with high-level problem solving. ‘Smart shoppers’ could have a well-developed mesial prefrontal cortex.

The extent to which each of these areas ‘light up’ varies from person to person and depends on factors like how badly you desire the item, the situation and cost of the item.

What we all have in common in the context of shopping, is a constant, efficient and quick back and forth alteration between reward anticipation, pain, and calculating/mathematical thinking. We are also considering and investigating the metabolic activity of the brain as the source of our spending habits.

However you spend this Christmas, spend it with people you love 😉.