Researchers Discovered Novel Method For Putting Brain In Learning Mode

Sep, 2022 - By WMR

The study activates an adaptive system that improves memory for unforeseen occurrences. This experiment demonstrates how information retrieval by people has an impact on the mechanism.

Whenever an expectation is disrupted either before or during learning, it sets off an adaptive mechanism that improves memory for unexpected occurrences. This experiment demonstrates how information retrieval efforts also have an impact on the mechanism. Researchers at the University of Manchester looking at how surprise affects huma’s memory unintentionally found a technique that could help us learn more effectively.

People in the study case were shown images of either artificial or natural objects. The participants, who had functional MRI scans to identify the brain regions that were utilised for learning and retrieving the knowledge. The participants' recall was improved when an expected occurrence, such as a triangle before a man-made object, was followed by a comparable yet unexpected event.

The second MRI research produced the same behavioural outcomes and revealed activation in the hippocampus, the brain's memory centre, midbrain areas, which release dopamine, and the occipital cortex, the vision centre. On the other hand, a series of two unexpectedly comparable occurrences also stimulated the brain's visual centres however did not improve memory function.

The hippocampus not only recalls memories but also encodes them. The two systems are at odds as there is only a limited quantity of resources available to allocate to one. In order to learn something new that it did not expect, human’s brain concentrates on the external environment when something unexpected occurs. The new study is the first to look into how the brain uses the mechanism while human seeking to retrieve knowledge. Researchers now understand that surprise activates the brain's learning mode.

Finding unpredictable circumstances, such as revising in a strang settings, would activate an encoding system; the objective is to retrieve knowledge. However, the opposite is also true: while attempting to recall previously learned material, a comfortable and predictable atmosphere may be beneficial and enhance memory retrieval.