Performance tracking is an internal signal that lets someone know they made a mistake, it’s the “oops moment.” Today, a scientific team has revealed brain mechanisms What is behind this function?

The research was published in the journal Science and provides a basic understanding of an executive function used to manage daily life, according to researchers at the Center for Neural Science and Medicine in Cedars-Sinai Hospital of the Angels.

“Part of the magic of the human brain is great flexibility,” he says. Ueli Rutishauser, main author of the study. “We designed the task to determine how the brain can generalize and specialize at the same time, two key aspects to help us pursue a goal,” he added.

The researchers discovered how signals from a group of neurons enter the frontal lobe of the brain they give people the flexibility to learn new tasks and the focus to develop specific skills.

Execution or performance control is an internal signal, a kind of self-generated “feedback”, letting someone know he or she has made a mistake; an example is the person who realizes that he did not turn where he should or who said something and acknowledges, once the words come out of his mouth, that what he said was inappropriate.

“That’s ‘oops!’ it’s performance tracking that begins“, emphasizes Zhongzheng Fu, another of the authors.

these signs help improve performance in future tests by sending information to the parts of the brain that control emotions, memory, planning, and problem solving. helps the brain adjust its focus by signaling the level of conflict found during the work, describes a statement from Cedars-Sinai.

A) Yes, “A moment of oops can get more attention next time to chat with a friend or plan a stop at the store on the way home, ”Fu explained.

To see this feature in action, the researchers recorded the activity of individual neurons in the medial prefrontal cortexa region known to play a major role in controlling performance.

The participants were patients with epilepsy who, as part of their treatment, have electrodes implanted in their brains; the group asked them to take two psychology tests.

Within stroop-test volunteers saw the written name of a color, such as “red,” printed in a different color of ink, such as green, and asked to name the color of the ink rather than writing.

On the other hand they noticed three numbers on the screen, two identical and one odd, for example 1-2-2. The task consists of pressing the button associated with a single number while resisting the tendency to press 2 because it appears twice.

While performing these tasks, the researchers observed two different types of neurons at work: the “error” neurons loudly fires after a mistake, while “conflict” fires in response to the difficulty of the task the individual has just finished.

“When we looked at the activity of neurons in this area of ​​the brain, we were surprised that most of them were just firing. then make a decision or take action. This suggests that this component plays a role in evaluating decisions after the fact, rather than making them. “

There are two types of performance monitoring: general and specific. We are generally told that something has gone wrong and can detect mistakes in any type of activity, whether it is driving or in a social situation. Specific control indicates what specifically went wrong, such as saying something inappropriate or choosing the wrong part. of the puzzle. This is one of the ways people hone their individual abilities.

“Surprisingly, mixing neurons that signal one and the other in the medial prefrontal cortex, ”the scientists said in the report.

The main finding is that the brain uses the same set of neurons for functional feedback in situations, whether it is on a task for the first time or working to hone specific skills. However, excessive or insufficient signage can cause problems. Excessive performance control activity may manifest as a obsessive-compulsive disorder which causes the urge to check someone for errors that do not exist.

At the other extreme is schizophreniawhere enforcement control may be less active to the point that the person does not understand the mistakes or the inappropriateness of his or her words or actions.

“We believe that the mechanical insights gained will be critical to perfecting treatments for these disorders,” Rutishauser concludes.