The one Super Bowl party you probably don't want to be invited to? The one hosted by the UCLA Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center. During the big game, they'll be scanning the brains of their guests for their reactions to the commercials.
This is the second year they've done it, and after the game they'll release rankings of the most effective Super Bowl ads at www.FKFRank.com. Using fMRI brain imaging, they can monitor activity in parts of the brain responsible for wanting, reward, surprise, fear, disgust, conflict, and attempts to control emotions.
One scientist's conclusions about last year's ads: "If a good indicator of a successful ad is activity in brain areas concerned with reward and empathy, two winners seem to be the 'I am going to Disney' ad and the Bud 'office' ad. In contrast, two big floppers seem to be the Bud 'secret fridge' ad and the Aleve ad."
I can tell you one thing: Without any monkeys to stimulate me this year, I'm pretty sure my brain waves will be flat.
Monkey + talkie = funny.
I'm curious, will there be a shock delvivered to the subjects if they find Robert Goulet's moustache "stimulating"? And I don't even want to imagine what will happen when those "Go Daddy Go" commercials come on!
(BTW: Do you ever lift stuff with your toes? Oops, wrong footblog. Sorry.)