Study Highlights Brain’s Ability to Learn from Human Errors

The human mind dislikes errors and takes time to prevent them from happening again. According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Iowa, the human brain can discern between an outcome where the person is not directly responsible and one where human mistake is the reason in less than a second. Additionally, the researchers discovered that when humans make mistakes, it takes longer for the brain to record the error and notify the rest of the body so that the mistake won’t be made again.

The brain can swiftly discern whether an unfavorable consequence is the result of a (human) error or something else, which is a novel component of this study, according to Jan Wessel, the corresponding author of the study and a professor in Iowa’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. “If the brain realises an error was the cause, it will then start additional processes to avoid further errors, which it won’t do if the outcome wasn’t due to its own action.” 

The Iowa researchers used 76 young individuals to gaze at a cluster of arrows and select the proper direction that one arrow was heading to learn about the brain’s capacity to distinguish human error from an error that was not self-inflicted. 

A triangle would show up on the screen practically every time the participants answered—almost always accurately, considering how easy the task was. Occasionally, though, a different symbol—an anchor, frog, helicopter, etc.—would show up on the screen, emulating a “surprise” or an unexpected result. Crucially, again, this symbol would show up even when the subject gave the right response and anticipated the triangle symbol. 

At three distinct time periods (350, 1,700, and 3,000 milliseconds), the researchers recorded the brain’s reaction to scenarios including the surprise outcome (an alternative symbol) and the standard outcome (a triangle). It was discovered that the brain can differentiate between the two results in roughly 1,000 milliseconds or one second. The researchers discovered that the brain continues to function for an extra two to three seconds if a human mistake is the cause of the result.

This indicates that when the brain recognizes that a mistake has been committed, it basically wants to grow from it. “The brain takes a few seconds to reconfigure the entire cognitive apparatus, the visual system, and the motor system when it is something that is related to my own action and I can take action,” says Wessel, who holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neurology. The brain appears to be taking its time to integrate with the rest of the body. 

Using scalp electroencephalograms (EEGs) to detect brain waves, the researchers also noticed persistent neural activity that was specific to situations involving human mistakes. Researchers discovered that while early cerebral activity from both mistakes and unexpected results of right acts was similar, only errors exhibited consistent, long-lasting brain activity more than a second after the answer, according to Wessel. 

However, Wessel’s study shows that the brain distinguishes between errors and no errors and that it informs the body’s other systems about both possible outcomes. “All in all, this shows that we do have genuine, error-specific systems in the human brain that detect our action errors that trigger adaptive responses, such as the strategic slowing of ongoing actions,” Wessel explains. 

Journal Reference  

Yoojeong Choo et al, Early Action Error Processing Is Due to Domain-General Surprise, Whereas Later Processing Is Error Specific, The Journal of Neuroscience (2023). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1334-23.2023.