Scans Show Learning 'Scripts' the Brain's Connections

Spontaneous brain activity formerly thought to be "white noise" is subject to change after an individual learns a new task. Scientists report that the degree of change reflects how well subjects have learned to perform the task. Even during sleep or anesthesia, the brain's spontaneous activity is not random, but organized patterns of correlated activity that occur in anatomically and functionally connected regions.

Reference:
Lewis et al. Learning sculpts the spontaneous activity of the resting human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0902455106

Fostering Creativity in Problem Solving

Discoveries and insights on the frontiers of science do not come from thin air but emerges from incremental processes of weaving together analogies, images and simulations. Scientists built real-world models and make predictions from them. They study the cognitive process by observing scientists at work in the lab. The study can help foster improved creativity in labs and allow students to model-based reasoning approaches to problem solving.

Reference: Science Daily

Learning for Individuals in Vegetative States

Scientists, for the first time, tested that patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states can learn. After training, patients would start to blink when the tone played but before the air puff to the eye. The classical conditioning in the vegetative and minimally conscious state will be published in the Advanced Online Publication of Nature Neuroscience.

Reference: Science Daily