Why the brain knows what will happen before it happens.
Scientists confirm that we can predict the future.
Every day, people unconsciously make thousands of small predictions – whether thinking of someone who suddenly turns up at the door or phones, or sensing that something is about to happen in their life.
Scientists are now beginning to ask how the brain manages to be so surprisingly good at making predictions.
Researchers at Washington University in St Louis are focusing on the part of the brain that sends a signal to the rest of the brain when unexpected events occur.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the scientists discovered that this system encodes prediction errors when viewers are asked to guess what will happen next in everyday scenes.
It turned out that between 80 and 90 per cent of the viewers’ predictions were correct.
The lead researcher, Jeffrey Zacks, said that predicting the immediate future is a key element in theories of perception, processing and language learning.
It is a great adaptive advantage for human beings, allowing them to avoid many unpleasant situations in life.
This research could prove helpful in the early stages of neurological diseases such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The scientists tested healthy volunteers who watched films of everyday activities such as washing a car, building a Lego model or doing the laundry. The film ran for a while and was then paused, and the participants were asked to say what would happen 5, 10 or 15 seconds later.
The scientists found that participants gave more than 90 per cent correct answers. Their predictions were based on a logical understanding of cause and effect and on anticipating the outcome of an event. The further ahead the events, the lower the percentage of people who could foresee them.
So most of us can predict future events – but only those that will take place over short intervals. Only a small number of people can read the future many months or even years ahead.
In the functional MRI experiment, the scientists observed significant activity in several regions of the brain, especially the substantia nigra of the midbrain and the basal ganglia, which perform various functions related to movement control, cognitive processes, emotions and learning.
Brain activity in the experiment was revealed by functional MRI at two critical points: when the participants were trying to make a choice, and immediately after they received feedback on whether their answers were right or wrong.
The scientists do not deny the possibility of predicting the future over longer periods, but they note that such people are far fewer.
The research was published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
First published (Polish original): 12 April 2012. Written by astrologers and esoteric specialists working with our editorial team; edited and translated for HOROSCOP.SPACE. © All rights reserved.
