A Finnish study has discovered that the less clothes people wear, the more quickly their image is processed by others.
In fact, the research, conducted by the University of Tampere and the Aalto University, concluded that nature has programmed the human brain to respond to the sight of a naked body faster than anything else.
Participants were shown photographs of both sexes either fully clothed, in swimwear or totally naked. An electroencephalogram then measured their vision-related evoked responses.
The results indicated that the brain processed the pictures faster the less a person was wearing, with the naked snaps attracting the most interest of all. While the men reacted more strongly to pictures of naked women, the women in the study were found to be less affected by the sex of the model.
The researchers, who published their findings in the PloS ONE science journal, suggested that such a brain system is part of the reproductive instinct, helping humans locate potential mates quickly.