The sculptor Auguste Rodin said that "a woman who undresses is a withering image, like the sun that pierces the clouds". But exactly what effect does nudity have on our brains ? Scientists from the University of Tampere (Finland) have carried out an experiment showing a series of volunteers images of people without clothes, wearing bathing suits or wearing clothing that covered their entire body. By comparing the brain response to different photographs, the researchers showed that the human brain processes images of naked bodies in just 0.2 seconds, much faster than any other photograph. At the same time, the more clothing that covered the body of the person portrayed, the slower the response speed of the neurons of those who observed it.
As might be expected, the cerebral reaction in males was stronger to the female nude. However, the intensity of the response of the female brain did not vary as a function of the sex of the model.
