https://hardwiredstickman.com Research-backed explainers about human behaviour, animal behaviour, social instincts and the hidden systems shaping everyday life. en-AU https://hardwiredstickman.com/episodes/why-rejection-hurts/ https://hardwiredstickman.com/episodes/why-rejection-hurts/ Thu, 16 Jul 2026 02:00:00 +1000 In 2003, psychologist Naomi Eisenberger, with Matthew Lieberman and Kipling Williams, used fMRI and the Cyberball exclusion game to show that social rejection activates the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex — the same brain region tied to the distress of physical pain. https://hardwiredstickman.com/episodes/why-do-babies-smile/ https://hardwiredstickman.com/episodes/why-do-babies-smile/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 02:00:00 +1000 A look at infant smiling development through the research of Peter Wolff, Robert Emde, Konrad Koenig, Robert Harmon, and John Bowlby's attachment theory. Newborns build spontaneous, sound-triggered, and social smiles on three separate timelines.