The structure of the brain is an important factor in flexibility in decision-making, claims an international research team.
Australian research team member, Associate Professor Scott Brown, of the University of Newcastle's Cognition Laboratory, said that quick decisions tend to be error-prone while relatively slower contemplation tends to produce more accuracy.
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This trade-off between speed and accuracy means people need to be able to switch between the fast risky and slower cautious modes of decision-making, as required.
However, says Brown little is known about the neurology underpinning this flexibility.
In their study, the research team, including scientists from the UK, Germany and The Netherlands, examined what brain mechanisms underpinning decision-making flexibility.
![Brilliant Human Brain - Animation]( "Brilliant Human Brain - Animation")
The most amazing and complex organ in the entire universe, the human brain continues to remain an enigma.
They found it was determined by the "purely physical measurement" of the thickness of the connections between the brain's cortex and the striatum of the basal ganglia.
He says the results are the equivalent of brain communication being reliant on a broadband connection or still using dial-up.
"The underlying finding that a purely physical measurement could predict behaviour is very surprising," ABC Science quoted him as saying.
Brown said the team has not determined what causes one person's connections to be thicker than another's.
"It could be that it is the 'use it or lose it' phenomena," he said.
However in a paper still under review, Brown said, the team has also shown the connection thins with age.
"As you get older the bandwidth gets slower and slower," he said.
The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: ANI
In their study, the research team, including scientists from the UK, Germany and The Netherlands, examined what brain mechanisms underpinning decision-making flexibility.
Brilliant Human Brain - Animation
The most amazing and complex organ in the entire universe, the human brain continues to remain an enigma.
Advertisement
They found it was determined by the "purely physical measurement" of the thickness of the connections between the brain's cortex and the striatum of the basal ganglia.
He says the results are the equivalent of brain communication being reliant on a broadband connection or still using dial-up.
"The underlying finding that a purely physical measurement could predict behaviour is very surprising," ABC Science quoted him as saying.
Brown said the team has not determined what causes one person's connections to be thicker than another's.
"It could be that it is the 'use it or lose it' phenomena," he said.
However in a paper still under review, Brown said, the team has also shown the connection thins with age.
"As you get older the bandwidth gets slower and slower," he said.
The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: ANI
Decision Making And Judgement Of Decision Certainty Depend On the Same Brain Cell Mechanism
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 Decision Making Affected by Status Quo Bias in the BrainResearchers at University College London (UCL) found that when we are faced with difficult decisions, most often we portray a tendency of inaction. | Advertisement
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