How does our brain learn from our mistakes? Does he prefer good news to bad? These are the questions answered by a team of Inserm researchers led by Stefano Palminteri from the Laboratory of Cognitive Neurosciences.
Researchers in cognitive psychology know that humans tend to take positive information (good news) into account more than negative information (bad news). They call this the “optimism bias”.
“This fundamental asymmetry is believed to generate and feed this bias and makes us believe that our future prospects are, on average, better than those of others. This has been particularly demonstrated in heavy smokers who underestimate their risk of premature mortality or in certain women who underestimate their risk of having breast cancer“ underline the researchers of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neurosciences of Inserm.
We learn optimism from our trial and error
They wanted to know more about this phenomenon in order to understand if it was only linked to our beliefs or if it was part of our most fundamental learning: when we learn from our trials and errors.
To do this, they studied the behavior of a group of people engaged in a trial-and-error learning process that consisted of making a choice between two symbols associated with a reward. Depending on the participant’s choice, they could receive “good news” (you won €0.50), win nothing or receive bad news (you lost €0.50).
Read also: Optimism: 4 secrets to being positive
The results showed that participants gave good news an average of 50% more importance than bad news. At the same time, LNC researchers studied participants’ brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
According to Stefano Palminteri, lead author of the study: “the brain activity recorded in the major structures of the cerebral reward circuitry is almost
2 times greater in an optimistic subject compared to a more realistic subject, with equal monetary reward. This activity highlights distinct profiles, more or less optimistic or realistic”.
This study suggests that the optimism bias could be involved in pathologies such as depression (absence of the bias) or certain addictions (overexpression of the bias). “The study of these elementary biases in the learning process is therefore essential” believe the authors whose study was published in Nature Human Behaviour.
Read also :
Optimism against cognitive decline
Being optimistic, the guarantee of a healthy heart
-1611668321.jpg "Adolescence: being optimistic keeps away the temptations of drugs and alcohol")
