Health communications: Predicting behavior change from the brain

Abstract

Health communications are intended to motivate the public to engage in healthier lifestyle choices. Why some messages succeed while others fail, however, remains a difficult question to answer. Traditional methods used to predict behavior change rely heavily on participants' self-reports. However, participants may be limited in their ability to discern which communications are likely to move them toward change. Neuroimaging offers a method to explore the underlying neural processes that occur during health message exposure, in real-time, without imposing additional cognitive tasks (e.g., assessing one's evaluation of the message). This chapter explores the utility of using neuroimaging in tandem with other methodologies (e.g., self-report, behavioral observation) to enhance our understanding of conscious and unconscious mechanisms that promote the effectiveness of health communications. We begin examining how neuroscience contributes to current understanding of health communication, examine health-relevant studies in the emerging field of communication neuroscience, and then discuss future directions.