Jim's God was obviously listening to my last post, because I immediately
came across this. I wouldn't make too much of it directly, but let me
redefine its significance - there are parts of the brain and body that LIKE
not knowing what to do, that LIKE creative, non-algorithmic problems. All
you've got to do now is work out how to design a computer like that:
"Neuroscientists discover a sense of adventure
Wellcome Trust scientists have identified a key region of the brain which
encourages us to be adventurous. The region, located in a primitive area of
the brain, is activated when we choose unfamiliar options, suggesting an
evolutionary advantage for sampling the unknown. It may also explain why
re-branding of familiar products encourages to pick them off the supermarket
shelves.
In an experiment carried out at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging
at UCL (University College London), volunteers were shown a selection of
images, which they had already been familiarised with. Each card had a
unique probability of reward attached to it and over the course of the
experiment, the volunteers would be able to work out which selection would
provide the highest rewards. However, when unfamiliar images were
introduced, the researchers found that volunteers were more likely to take a
chance and select one of these options than continue with their familiar -
and arguably safer - option.
Using fMRI scanners, which measure blood flow in the brain to highlight
which areas are most active, Dr Bianca Wittmann and colleagues showed that
when the subjects selected an unfamiliar option, an area of the brain known
as the ventral striatum lit up, indicating that it was more active. The
ventral striatum is in one of the evolutionarily primitive regions of the
brain, suggesting that the process can be advantageous and will be shared by
many animals.
"Seeking new and unfamiliar experiences is a fundamental behavioural
tendency in humans and animals," says Dr Wittmann. "It makes sense to try
new options as they may prove advantageous in the long run. For example, a
monkey who chooses to deviate from its diet of bananas, even if this
involves moving to an unfamiliar part of the forest and eating a new type of
food, may find its diet enriched and more nutritious."
When we make a particular choice or carry out a particular action which
turns out to be beneficial, it is rewarded by a release of neurotransmitters
such as dopamine. These rewards help us learn which behaviours are
preferable and advantageous and worth repeating. The ventral striatum is one
of the key areas involved in processing rewards in the brain. Although the
researchers cannot say definitively from the fMRI scans how novelty seeking
is being rewarded, Dr Wittmann believes it is likely to be through dopamine
release.
However, whilst rewarding the brain for making novel choices may prove
advantageous in encouraging us to make potentially beneficial choices, it
may also make us more susceptible to exploitation.
"I might have my own favourite choice of chocolate bar, but if I see a
different bar repackaged, advertising its 'new, improved flavour', my search
for novel experiences may encourage me to move away from my usual choice,"
says Dr Wittmann. "This introduces the danger of being sold 'old wine in a
new skin' and is something that marketing departments take advantage of."
Rewarding the brain for novel choices could have a more serious side effect,
argues Professor Nathaniel Daw, now at New York University, who also worked
on the study.
"The novelty bonus may be useful in helping us make complex, uncertain
decisions, but it clearly has a downside," says Professor Daw. "In humans,
increased novelty-seeking may play a role in gambling and drug addiction,
both of which are mediated by malfunctions in dopamine release."
Source: Wellcome Trust
http://www.physorg.com/news133617811.html
-------------------------------------------
agi
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