Interesting article from Jonah Lehrer: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/f … feat/all/1
"... But there’s another region of the brain that can be activated as we go about editing reality. It’s called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFC. It’s located just behind the forehead and is one of the last brain areas to develop in young adults. It plays a crucial role in suppressing so-called unwanted representations, getting rid of those thoughts that don’t square with our preconceptions. For scientists, it’s a problem.
When physics students saw the Aristotelian video with the aberrant balls, their DLPFCs kicked into gear and they quickly deleted the image from their consciousness. In most contexts, this act of editing is an essential cognitive skill. (When the DLPFC is damaged, people often struggle to pay attention, since they can’t filter out irrelevant stimuli.) However, when it comes to noticing anomalies, an efficient prefrontal cortex can actually be a serious liability. The DLPFC is constantly censoring the world, erasing facts from our experience. If the ACC is the “Oh shit!” circuit, the DLPFC is the Delete key. When the ACC and DLPFC “turn on together, people aren’t just noticing that something doesn’t look right,” Dunbar says. “They’re also inhibiting that information.” ... "
Semi-Related: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/mag … t_thompson - Clive Thompson on Remembering Not to Remember in an Age of Unlimited Memory
Last edited by nest0r (2009 December 23, 4:33 pm)
wccrawford
Member
From: FL US
Registered: 2008-03-28
Posts: 1551
IceCream wrote:
ugh. so grim. i wish there was a little more information on how old you are when it develops. anyway, i want an inefficient DLPFC for christmas please 
Some of us are already blessed. 
However, to counter my deficient DLPFC, I apparently have a 'TUBS' area... That's Useless B***S***. It kicks in whenever I'm hearing things that I'll never need to know again.
I noticed it the other day listening to an English comprehension audio quiz that someone posted. English is my native language... There's no way I could fail it. I got 5 of the 6 wrong because it would be a total BS conversation between 2 co-workers and then would ask something like 'What color was Sally's dress?' ... Seriously? Did she even MENTION a dress? I totally blocked that BS out.
Yet, when it comes to work, I can repeat back word-for-word what someone said about one of my projects, often even weeks later.
Personally, I think it's a good trade.
I definitely prefer a fully developed brain, having both neuroplasticity, complex stores of knowledge, and the metacognitive skills to adapt it all strategically and creatively. ;p
PS - Might find this interesting, depending on how up to speed you are on these topics: http://www.noprobo.com/posts/brain-plas … new-tricks (from Wikipedia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity ], which actually has lots of interesting stuff... anyway, lately I've been interested in emergentist applications of newer theories about the development of the prefrontal cortex, rather than polarized innatist or empiricist ones, so don't mind me... )
Last edited by nest0r (2009 December 23, 6:56 pm)
