Voices in our head

Olson Zaltman's Nick Kimminau shares an article from The Guardian that describes the phenomenon of “inner speech.” 

We are talking to ourselves (in our heads) all the time. As it happens, inner speech activates some of the same mechanisms in the brain as external speech.  This blog post dives into more detail about inner speech, its various manifestations, and its possible evolutionary role.

According to one piece of research, when we see an ad we subconsciously mouth the name of the brand we are hearing about and the message that is being delivered.  So if we watch an ad while eating, it affects the ability of our mouth and brain to go through these motions, and thus the message of the ad doesn’t get through.  For example, the research suggests movie goers are less receptive to ads when they are eating popcorn.