There is a biological reason why we learn more from our triumphs than from our failures, according to new research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Scientists there have shown that the brain responds to success at the level of individual brain cells, but the neurons show virtually no response to failures.

    The fact that we learn more from our successes than from our failures is not new. Even family pets respond more to reward than punishment, and so do children, according to numerous psychology studies.

    Little Is Known About How Environment Guides Learning

    The scientists used monkeys in the research because it isn't possible to monitor individual brain cells, or neurons, without implanting an electrode in the brain, and of course that's out of the question with human subjects. But monkeys can learn things, and then relearn things, fairly quickly, although they are not as good at it as humans.

    Neurons Retain Memory of Correct Action

    Histed, lead author of the study, said via e-mail that the research explored the neural circuitry "at the single neutron level."

    "We found that the memory of past actions could be maintained by the activity of the neurons," Histed said. "Some neurons started to fire after correct responses, and continued to fire for several seconds until the next action was to be made."

    In other words, the neurons themselves retained a memory of the correct action, paving the way for continued success.

    The researchers found that monkeys that were rewarded for the right response to a cue learned quickly how to respond the next time they saw the cue, but monkeys that responded incorrectly weren't any better equipped to deal with the same cue the next time they saw it.

    Evolutionary Basis for How Brains Learn

    "If the monkey just got a correct answer, a signal lingered in its brain that said 'you did the right thing.' Right after a correct answer, neurons processed information more sharply and effectively, and the monkey was more likely to get the next answer correct as well," Miller said. "But after an error there was no improvement. In other words, only after successes, not failures, did brain processing and the monkeys' behavior improve."

    There is apparently an evolutionary basis for why the brain learns that way, Miller said.

    "There's a practical reason for it," he said. "Successes are more informative than failures."

    If you fail at something you probably know why. You got fired because you showed up late most of the time. Your spouse left because you showed up too many times at the wrong place, with the wrong person. You already know the reason you failed.

    "If you succeed, everything has gone right, so there's a lot more information in successes than failures," Miller said. "The brain probably evolved to take advantage of successes because there's more information there."

    美國馬薩諸塞科學協會最新一項研究表明，生物學可以解釋我們為什么從成功中學到更多，而不是失敗。

    科學家表明：大腦以個人腦細胞水平高低對成功有反應，但是神經細胞幾乎對失敗沒有反應。

    我們從成功中學到更多而不是失敗的事實已經不是第一次了。據眾多心理學研究，即使是家里養的寵物對獎賞有更多的反應而不是懲罰，孩子也是一樣的。

    不清楚如何引導學習環境

    科學家用猴子做實驗，因為在沒有給他們大腦灌輸電極時是不可能監督各自的大腦細胞的，當然，那不是人類的問題。但是，猴子可以學習，然后反復學習，而且相當快，盡管沒有人類學得好。

    神經細胞保留正確的動作的記憶

    研究者Histed通過郵件說，"研究探索了在單個神經末梢的神經線路。"

    結果發現過去情節的記憶可以通過活躍的神經保留下來".他說，"一些神經在正確的反應后開始解散小時，接下來的幾秒繼續這樣一直到將要做下一個動作。

    ".

    換句話說，神經細胞自身保存著正確行為的記憶，為以后的成功鋪平道路。

    研究發現，因反應正確而得到獎賞的猴子，當下一次他們看到線索時對怎么反應學習的更快，而那些反應錯誤的猴子，對下一次如何去處理看到的同樣的事物沒有什么人長進。

    學習如何演化基礎大腦

    如果猴子剛剛回答的正確，一種信號進入他們的大腦說你做對了，之后神經細胞傳授信息會更靈敏更有效，同時猴子也更有可能做對接下來的動作。"Miller說。"但如果是錯誤的，以后會沒有提高。換句話說，只有經過成功，而不是失敗，大腦才能傳輸，猴子的行為才能改善。

    一個進化發展基礎論明顯的解釋了為什么大腦那樣學習，Miller說。

    ."一個很實際的原因，".他說，"成功比失敗的見識更多，信息更廣。"

    如果你某些事失敗了，你可能知道原因。你被解雇了因為你遲到了好長時間。你的愛人離開了因為你很多地方錯了，和不應該在一起的人在一起。 你已經知道失去的原因。

    如果你成功了，一切事情正常，因此在成功的路上比失敗有很多信息。Miller說，"大腦可能轉為去好好利用成功，就因為成功有很多信息。"