Storing Learned Knowledge

Theodore (Ted) Stark
Nov 4 · 2 min read

We’ve known our brains have areas allocated to nothing but learned knowledge. Within these areas, however, how is that knowledge stored? Is it possible that the way we acquire a particular piece of knowledge can contribute to how and where this acquired knowledge is stored? That’s what researchers from Oxford University sought to investigate.

In a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe how 26 participants (11 females) were exposed to three sets of 64 randomized, non-descriptive symbols. Participants were asked to follow a seemingly random sequence via the arrow keys on a keyboard. Some sequences resulted in positive outcomes (the reward condition), while other sequences did not (the control). After the sequences were learned, participants were placed in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. They were asked to complete both the control sequences as well as the sequences that resulted in a reward. The researchers, via the fMRI scanner, monitored the neural pathways used in both the control and reward conditions.

The findings revealed that the storage of learned knowledge in different brain circuits and regions is based on how the knowledge was acquired. Study participants utilized one set of brain circuits for the control sequences and a separate set of circuits for the reward. These findings suggest that our brains utilize multiple networks for storing learned knowledge.

Where replication of this study’s findings is required, this paper has the potential to contribute to the overall efforts of understanding better how the brain acquires information. In understanding better not only how learned knowledge is stored, but realizing that the storage regions differ based on acquisition methods can apply from neural networks to how people interact with technology. Furthermore, it could enlighten the study of the drivers behind motivation and engagement with products, services, and more.

This was Article 128 from the Studio Quick Facts Series.


References:

How our brains remember things depends upon how we learn them. (2019). Neuroscience News. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from https://neurosciencenews.com/associated-memory-learning-15126/

Klein-Flügge, M. C., Wittmann, M. K., Shpektor, A., Jensen, D. E., & Rushworth, M. F. (2019). Multiple associative structures created by reinforcement and incidental statistical learnin

Studio Quick Facts

The bi-weekly series focused on the science behind how humans interact with technology.

Theodore (Ted) Stark

Written by

Empirically minded User Experience professional with a bias towards the science that informs human-computer interaction.

Studio Quick Facts

The bi-weekly series focused on the science behind how humans interact with technology.

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