What happens neurologically when a person processes new information?

Offering deeper insights into the mechanics of learning, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin analyzed how dynamic shifts in a person's knowledge influence decision making. The researchers used brain decoding techniques to determine the level of information available to a person while making a decision, and then measured how new knowledge is reflected in changed opinions and decisions. They monitored the neural changes in participants who learned an activity they had no prior knowledge of. The researchers found that the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which coordinates thoughts and actions, plays a vital role in learning. It reconciles new information with the previous knowledge by tuning selective attention to relevant features and comparing that with the existing conceptual knowledge in the HPC. It then updates the knowledge based on the new relevant features. These findings can help in developing educational practices, the researchers said.

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