Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
For the human brain, learning a new task when rules change can be a surprisingly difficult process marred by repeated mistakes, a new study has claimed. Researchers from Michigan State University found that when participants in a task were given a set of rules which were later reversed, they repeatedly erred and had to work harder than when they were given the first set of rules.
"Imagine travelling to Ireland and suddenly having to drive on the left side of the road. The brain, trained for right-side driving, becomes overburdened trying to suppress the old rules while simultaneously focusing on the new rules," said Hans Schroder, who led the research.
"There's so much conflict in your brain that when you make a mistake like forgetting to turn on your blinker you don't even realise it and make the same mistake again. What you learned initially is hard to overcome when rules change," said Schroder.
The study was published in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience. Study participants were given a computer task that involved recognising the middle letter in strings such as "NNMNN" or "MMNMM." If "M" was in the middle, they were to press the left button if "N" was in the middle, they were to press the right.
After 50 trials, the rules were reversed so the participants had to press the right button if "M" was in the middle and the left if "N" was in the middle. Participants made more repeated errors when the rules were reversed, meaning they weren't learning from their mistakes.
In addition, a cap measuring brain activity showed they were less aware of their errors. When participants did respond correctly after the rules changed, their brain activity showed they had to work harder than when they were given the first set of rules.
"We expected they were going to get better at the task over time," said Schroder in a statement. "But after the rules changed they were slower and less accurate throughout the task and couldn't seem to get the hang of it
Labels: research
In a breakthrough, US scientists have genetically modified a bacterium to kill the parasite that causes malaria before it infects humans.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute said their breakthrough could help prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malaria to humans. Malaria kills over 800,000 people worldwide every year, most of them are children. In the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers modified the bacterium, called Pantoea agglomerans, to secrete proteins that are toxic to the malaria parasite, but not harmful to the mosquito or humans.
The bacterium is commonly found in the mosquito's midgut. It was found that the modified bacteria were 98 per cent effective in reducing the malaria parasite burden in the insects.
Jacobs-Lorena and his team found that the engineered P. agglomerans strains inhibited development of the deadliest human malaria parasite "Plasmodium falciparum" and rodent malaria parasite "Plasmodium berghei" by up to 98 per cent within the mosquito. The proportion of mosquitoes carrying parasites (prevalence) decreased by up to 84 per cent.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute said their breakthrough could help prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malaria to humans. Malaria kills over 800,000 people worldwide every year, most of them are children. In the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers modified the bacterium, called Pantoea agglomerans, to secrete proteins that are toxic to the malaria parasite, but not harmful to the mosquito or humans.
The bacterium is commonly found in the mosquito's midgut. It was found that the modified bacteria were 98 per cent effective in reducing the malaria parasite burden in the insects.
Jacobs-Lorena and his team found that the engineered P. agglomerans strains inhibited development of the deadliest human malaria parasite "Plasmodium falciparum" and rodent malaria parasite "Plasmodium berghei" by up to 98 per cent within the mosquito. The proportion of mosquitoes carrying parasites (prevalence) decreased by up to 84 per cent.
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