At least, it seems to work on males. Male rodents, that is. And only because her image is so damn stressful. Scientists at McGill University, who evidently have way too much time on their hands, noticed that mice spent less time licking the sore spot from an injection when humans were nearby. To determine whether the mice were reacting to the sight or the scent of humans, they set up a cardboard cutout of Paris Hilton from The Simple Life (something they had to “special order,” supposedly).

The effect was clear. Male mice spent less time licking their wounds and showed reduced activity in neurons that transmitted pain signals to the brain, while females showed no such effects. The researchers hypothesized that both male and female mice viewed Paris as a potential predator, and the resulting stress inhibited pain signals that might distract the animal from the threat. However, while the male mice stressed, females just tried to ignore her.

At any rate, this may help to explain why Paris has managed to build a career on very little besides being dumb and annoying and ubiquitous. Of course, there haven’t been any systematic studies of her effect on actual humans. And the people of Rwanda would prefer not to participate, since life there is already stressful and painful enough.