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Ever heard of the Temporo-Parietal Junction? No, it's not a train station, nor is it a 60's-style rock group. The TPJ, as it's also known, is the area of the brain that gets activated when we're thinking about how to share something and who to share it with. If you want to make something go viral on Facebook or Twitter, in other words, the TPJ is where you want to hit — because it lights up like a Christmas tree before we even know we're going to share something. The more activated it is, the more persuasive the share. And it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what we think is cool ourselves.

You might expect people to be most enthusiastic and opinionated about ideas that they themselves are excited about, but this research suggests that's not the whole story. "Thinking about what appeals to others may be even more important."

you know that feeling you get when you see something on Facebook that you have to share with a specific friend? That moment when you get an image of how they're going to react when they see that news story or this kitten? That, apparently, is your TPJ working overtime.