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Are you a glass half full or a glass half empty kind of person? Some people seem to inherently focus on the negative when faced with a decision-making situation, and new research from a team of MIT neuroscientists has identified exactly what region of the brain may be inducing these pessimistic decisions.
The researchers at MIT have been examining the neuroscience of decision making for several years. Previous work has revealed that cost-benefit decisions are mediated by a brain circuit that runs from the medial prefrontal cortex to a specific cluster of neurons located in the striatum.
It was found that when this circuit is disrupted, an animal would be more likely to make a high-risk, high-reward decision such as traversing past unpleasant bright light for stronger chocolate milk, instead of a less-concentrated but easily accessible milk reward.
An interesting outcome of this prior research was that when the test animals were chronically stressed, they displayed similar high-risk, high-reward behavior, suggesting that risker decisions may be made under the influence of stress and anxiety. The researchers hypothesized that it is this process that may help explain how the stress of addiction can lead to substance abuse.
The new research set out to focus on the area of the brain where negative weighting is generated in the decision making process. The study focused on the caudate nucleus, a small structure making up part of the dorsal striatum, a component of the basal ganglia. The experiments stimulated the caudate nucleus in macaque monkeys with a small electric current.
The animals were presented with a decision, a reward of juice was paired with an unpleasant puff of air to the face, a simple cost-benefit decision. What degree of negative stimulus will the animal put up with to get the reward? The experiment intriguingly showed that when the caudate nucleus was stimulated the animals began to avoid choosing the reward, when previously they would have put up with the unpleasant stimulus.
This state we've mimicked has an overestimation of cost relative to benefit explains Ann Graybiel senior author on the new research.
Essentially, the research reveals that pessimistic decision-making can potentially be tied to an overactive caudate nucleus.
Graybiel is turning her focus to validating these findings in human subjects, working with patients suffering from anxiety and depression to find out whether abnormal activity in the caudate nucleus can be specifically seen during negative decision-making.
As well as offering a compelling insight into how our brains weigh positive or negative outcomes when making a decision, the research hopes to help direct scientists toward better treatments for people suffering from depression and anxiety.
For some people with extreme neuropsychiatric disorders, a crippling pessimistic worldview can be overwhelming, and this discovery may help focus treatments on an area of the brain that can modulate those negative sensations.
The research was published in the journal Neuron.
The researchers at MIT have been examining the neuroscience of decision making for several years. Previous work has revealed that cost-benefit decisions are mediated by a brain circuit that runs from the medial prefrontal cortex to a specific cluster of neurons located in the striatum.
It was found that when this circuit is disrupted, an animal would be more likely to make a high-risk, high-reward decision such as traversing past unpleasant bright light for stronger chocolate milk, instead of a less-concentrated but easily accessible milk reward.
An interesting outcome of this prior research was that when the test animals were chronically stressed, they displayed similar high-risk, high-reward behavior, suggesting that risker decisions may be made under the influence of stress and anxiety. The researchers hypothesized that it is this process that may help explain how the stress of addiction can lead to substance abuse.
The new research set out to focus on the area of the brain where negative weighting is generated in the decision making process. The study focused on the caudate nucleus, a small structure making up part of the dorsal striatum, a component of the basal ganglia. The experiments stimulated the caudate nucleus in macaque monkeys with a small electric current.
The animals were presented with a decision, a reward of juice was paired with an unpleasant puff of air to the face, a simple cost-benefit decision. What degree of negative stimulus will the animal put up with to get the reward? The experiment intriguingly showed that when the caudate nucleus was stimulated the animals began to avoid choosing the reward, when previously they would have put up with the unpleasant stimulus.
This state we've mimicked has an overestimation of cost relative to benefit explains Ann Graybiel senior author on the new research.
Essentially, the research reveals that pessimistic decision-making can potentially be tied to an overactive caudate nucleus.
Graybiel is turning her focus to validating these findings in human subjects, working with patients suffering from anxiety and depression to find out whether abnormal activity in the caudate nucleus can be specifically seen during negative decision-making.
As well as offering a compelling insight into how our brains weigh positive or negative outcomes when making a decision, the research hopes to help direct scientists toward better treatments for people suffering from depression and anxiety.
For some people with extreme neuropsychiatric disorders, a crippling pessimistic worldview can be overwhelming, and this discovery may help focus treatments on an area of the brain that can modulate those negative sensations.
The research was published in the journal Neuron.
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Chinese President #XiJinping and his US counterpart, Donald #Trump, are scheduled to attend the multilateral summit in Argentina, which begins on November 30, raising hopes that the two countries might find a solution to end the dispute by the end of the year. The two have not met since late 2017.
High-level talks between Beijing and Washington have been on hold since US Secretary of Commerce #WilburRoss went to Beijing in early June. Rossโs visit as well as previous Washington trips by Chinese Vice-Premier #LiuHe, who is Xiโs top economic adviser, failed to prevent trade friction from escalating into an all-out trade war amid growing animosity.
#WorldEconomy #Protectionism #America #Globalisation #GlobalTrade #TradeWars #EconomicRisk #Economy #TradePolicy #InternationalTrade #TradeTariffs #Politics #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations #USA #GlobalTradeWar
#US and #China โaim to solve trade war by time Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet at G20 in Novemberโ
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2160283/expected-donald-trump-xi-jinping-meeting-november-goal
High-level talks between Beijing and Washington have been on hold since US Secretary of Commerce #WilburRoss went to Beijing in early June. Rossโs visit as well as previous Washington trips by Chinese Vice-Premier #LiuHe, who is Xiโs top economic adviser, failed to prevent trade friction from escalating into an all-out trade war amid growing animosity.
#WorldEconomy #Protectionism #America #Globalisation #GlobalTrade #TradeWars #EconomicRisk #Economy #TradePolicy #InternationalTrade #TradeTariffs #Politics #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations #USA #GlobalTradeWar
#US and #China โaim to solve trade war by time Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet at G20 in Novemberโ
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2160283/expected-donald-trump-xi-jinping-meeting-november-goal
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Report: Global Google Home shipments rose 449% in Q2 to grab the top spot from Amazon - A few days ago, we showed you Strategy Analytics' look at the global smart speaker market during the second quarter, which showed Amazon on top with its Echo devices, followed by Google. According to the research firm, Google had a spectacularly strong three month period with year-over-growth in shipments hitting 420%. But SA still had Amazon on top. Today, Canalys released its look at the global smart s...
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All these trump supporters.. and here's one that raised a lot of money for the GOP, this president, as he filled his pockets with millions for himself. It doesn't end! #Crooks
#GiveUsAGreatPresidentAgain!
#GiveUsAGreatPresidentAgain!
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Google updates mobile-friendly test, rich results test tools to better support JavaScript sites.
http://feeds.searchengineland.com/~r/full-seo-sel/~3/VyEnNH6w-pU/google-updates-mobile-friendly-test-rich-results-test-tools-to-better-support-javascript-sites-297949 #GoogleSearch #SEO #MobileFriendly
http://feeds.searchengineland.com/~r/full-seo-sel/~3/VyEnNH6w-pU/google-updates-mobile-friendly-test-rich-results-test-tools-to-better-support-javascript-sites-297949 #GoogleSearch #SEO #MobileFriendly
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Fight Night Lincoln Free Fight: Justin Gaethje vs Michael Johnson
https://mmaprophet.com/2018/08/17/fight-night-lincoln-free-fight-justin-gaethje-vs-michael-johnson/
https://mmaprophet.com/2018/08/17/fight-night-lincoln-free-fight-justin-gaethje-vs-michael-johnson/
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Breaking with the long-held idea that working memory has fixed limits, a new study by researchers at Uppsala University and New York University suggests that these limits adapt themselves to the task that one is performing. The results are presented in the scientific journal eLife.
You can read this sentence from beginning to end without losing track of its meaning thanks to your working memory. This system temporarily stores information relevant to whatever task you are currently performing.
However, the more objects you try to hold in working memory at once, the poorer the quality of each of the resulting memories.
It has long been argued that this phenomenon, known as the set size effect occurs because the brain devotes a fixed amount of neural resources to working memory.
But this theory struggles to account for certain experimental results. It also fails to explain why the brain would not simply recruit more resources whenever it has more objects to remember. After all, your heart does something similar by beating faster whenever you increase your physical activity.
Van den Berg and Ma break with the idea that working memory resources are fixed. Instead, they propose that resource allocation is flexible and driven by balancing between two conflicting goals: maximize memory performance, but use as few neural resources as necessary.
They turned this idea into a computational model and tested it on data from nine previously published experiments.
In those experiments, human subjects memorized the colors of varying numbers of objects. When asked to reproduce these colors as precisely as possible, the quality of their responses was negatively affected by the number of objects in memory.
The model by Van den Berg and Ma accurately mimics this set size effect in all nine datasets. Moreover, their model simulations predict that the objects most relevant for a task are stored more accurately than less important ones, a phenomenon also observed in participants.
Lastly, their simulation predicts that the total amount of resources devoted to working memory varies with the number of objects to be remembered. This too is consistent with the results of previous experiments.
Working memory thus appears to be more flexible than previously thought. The amount of resources that the brain allocates to working memory is not fixed but could be the result of balancing resource cost against cognitive performance. If this is confirmed, it may be possible to improve working memory by offering rewards, or by increasing the perceived importance of a task.
You can read this sentence from beginning to end without losing track of its meaning thanks to your working memory. This system temporarily stores information relevant to whatever task you are currently performing.
However, the more objects you try to hold in working memory at once, the poorer the quality of each of the resulting memories.
It has long been argued that this phenomenon, known as the set size effect occurs because the brain devotes a fixed amount of neural resources to working memory.
But this theory struggles to account for certain experimental results. It also fails to explain why the brain would not simply recruit more resources whenever it has more objects to remember. After all, your heart does something similar by beating faster whenever you increase your physical activity.
Van den Berg and Ma break with the idea that working memory resources are fixed. Instead, they propose that resource allocation is flexible and driven by balancing between two conflicting goals: maximize memory performance, but use as few neural resources as necessary.
They turned this idea into a computational model and tested it on data from nine previously published experiments.
In those experiments, human subjects memorized the colors of varying numbers of objects. When asked to reproduce these colors as precisely as possible, the quality of their responses was negatively affected by the number of objects in memory.
The model by Van den Berg and Ma accurately mimics this set size effect in all nine datasets. Moreover, their model simulations predict that the objects most relevant for a task are stored more accurately than less important ones, a phenomenon also observed in participants.
Lastly, their simulation predicts that the total amount of resources devoted to working memory varies with the number of objects to be remembered. This too is consistent with the results of previous experiments.
Working memory thus appears to be more flexible than previously thought. The amount of resources that the brain allocates to working memory is not fixed but could be the result of balancing resource cost against cognitive performance. If this is confirmed, it may be possible to improve working memory by offering rewards, or by increasing the perceived importance of a task.
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Social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook have been useful in disseminating emergency contacts, SOS messages and location of those stuck in the calamity; Google Maps is being used to map location of shelter homes and share with users
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Continents and Clouds | International Space Station
This time-lapse video was taken by the Expedition 56 crew on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots were taken using a 16mm fisheye camera lens on June 21, 2018 from 15:19:25 to 16:09:25 GMT, on a day pass from The Pacific Ocean to Africa. The video begins over cloud covered waters of the Pacific Ocean and heads toward the western coast of North America. The first sight of land is the Baja peninsula of Mexico and quickly approaches the southwest US states of Arizona and Utah. The US midwest is mostly cloudy. Orange waters on the western edge of Lake Superior are the result of significant flooding in Duluth, MN at the time of the video. The ISS continues over the northern Atlantic Ocean and passes over Spain at the Strait of Gibraltar. As the ISS heads southeast across Africa, orange Saharan sands come into view and the video ends with a sunset over the cloud covered continent.
Credit:
Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit
NASA Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 55 seconds
Release Date: June 26, 2018
+NASA
+NASA Earth Observatory
+NASA Johnson Space Center
+Canadian Space Agency
#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Clouds #Canadarm2 #Robotics #CSA #Canada #Astronauts #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #Fisheye #Camera #Lens #Timelapse #HD #Video
This time-lapse video was taken by the Expedition 56 crew on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots were taken using a 16mm fisheye camera lens on June 21, 2018 from 15:19:25 to 16:09:25 GMT, on a day pass from The Pacific Ocean to Africa. The video begins over cloud covered waters of the Pacific Ocean and heads toward the western coast of North America. The first sight of land is the Baja peninsula of Mexico and quickly approaches the southwest US states of Arizona and Utah. The US midwest is mostly cloudy. Orange waters on the western edge of Lake Superior are the result of significant flooding in Duluth, MN at the time of the video. The ISS continues over the northern Atlantic Ocean and passes over Spain at the Strait of Gibraltar. As the ISS heads southeast across Africa, orange Saharan sands come into view and the video ends with a sunset over the cloud covered continent.
Credit:
Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit
NASA Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 55 seconds
Release Date: June 26, 2018
+NASA
+NASA Earth Observatory
+NASA Johnson Space Center
+Canadian Space Agency
#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Clouds #Canadarm2 #Robotics #CSA #Canada #Astronauts #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #Fisheye #Camera #Lens #Timelapse #HD #Video
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![Blazing Fireball 40 Times Brighter Than A Full Moon Streaks Across Alabama Sky [Video]](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/-nCUtVp-q5bNMY89KhyA3nPDPKD6JeUeIOlX61sdSetL8YDAiG2vvfB4FXukHQhZPIXRyAt71blxTHcE2-na89w43Oq-knxbAngabQGYiC4tEEV6aJjGmk4z=w265-h128-p)
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Android updates can sometimes take their time in reaching phones. But why does that happen? Sony explains it using an infographic.
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Comets and meteors have fascinated the human race since they were first spotted in the night sky. But without science and space exploration to help them understand the pheonomena, ancient cultures often turned to myth and legend for explanations.
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Exclusive: FBI probing cyber attack on congressional campaign in California: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a cyber attack on the congressional campaign of a Democratic candidate in California, according to three people close to the campaign.
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"When we shift from trying to change ourselves to being non-judgmentally aware, magic happens, for anything that is placed in awareness, transforms. Awareness is like fire. Fire purifies, and awareness purifies. Fire doesnโt judge. It simply burns away the impurities of what is placed within its presence."
~ Richard Miller, PhD
~ Richard Miller, PhD
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VIDEO: Jon Jones hints upcoming UFC comeback; UFC canโt afford Luke Rockhold's next fight; Conor McGregor
https://mmaprophet.com/2018/08/17/jon-jones-hints-upcoming-ufc-comeback-ufc-cant-afford-luke-rockholds-next-fight-conor-mcgregor/
https://mmaprophet.com/2018/08/17/jon-jones-hints-upcoming-ufc-comeback-ufc-cant-afford-luke-rockholds-next-fight-conor-mcgregor/
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