An amazing feature of the human brain has been discovered

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Lerato Khumalo

A study conducted by researchers at Columbia University in the USA revealed that the human brain divides 24 hours into sections like a book.

It confirms that when moving from one place to another or from one activity to another, new segments are marked by a visible change in brain activity.

Compartmentalization clearly helps the brain make sense of the ongoing flow of life. In studies to date, it has not been clear exactly how the brain decides where each segment begins and ends. New research shows personalized process based on what is important to the person and what their priorities are.

“IT SPLITS IT INTO MEANINGFUL PIECES”

“We wanted to challenge the theory that sudden changes in brain activity as we begin a new part of the day are caused solely by sudden changes in the world. The brain actively breaks down our life experiences into parts that are meaningful to us,” said Christopher Baldassano, Associate Professor of Psychology at Columbia University.

The research team created 16 short audio narratives featuring one of four locations (restaurant, airport, grocery store, and conference hall) and one of four scenarios (breakup, proposal, business deal, and date). A total of 415 participants were invited to listen to these narratives. In some cases, brain activity was monitored, while in others, volunteers were asked to indicate when a new chapter of the story began by pressing a button.

Most importantly, in some cases, researchers prepared participants to focus on different aspects of the study. (Like in a story about a restaurant proposal, they are asked to focus on the proposal or their food order). Priming had an impact on the neurological identification of new episodes, showing that the brain adjusts its editing techniques based on what we think is most important at that moment. It was recognized that past experiences, as well as current priorities and goals, could also play a role in this process.

“These results identify the mechanisms by which past experiences distilled into schematic event scenarios change the way we form our current perceptions for realistic experience,” the researchers said in their article about the study.