A research group led by Takashi Matsuo, a graduate student at Osaka City University Graduate School, and Satoshi Ishii, has elucidated a neural mechanism that improves the performance of cognitive tasks by being given motivational information.
Until now, it has been pointed out that the motivation for learning, which is elicited by a sense of accomplishment, is important for improving academic performance, but the mechanism is unknown and the brain science support has not been sufficient.Therefore, this time, the research group considered the close relationship between cognitive function and academic performance, and studied the neural mechanism by which cognitive function is improved by providing motivational information.
Twenty healthy adult men participated in the experiment. We performed cognitive tasks related to the same attention function and working memory under two conditions.Under one condition, an image showing that the performance of the cognitive task is above the average and almost at the highest level is presented between the cognitive tasks regardless of the actual performance.Under the other condition, images unrelated to the task performance were presented for comparison.
As a result, when an image unrelated to the task performance was presented, the performance of the cognitive task (correct answer rate) gradually decreased, but when it was presented that the performance was good, the task performance was maintained.When the brain activity during the cognitive task was examined with a special sensor, the degree to which the task performance was maintained by showing that the grade was good (= the degree to which the grade improved compared to the other conditions) and information. The presence of brain regions associated with processing activity was revealed.It is said that the work of this brain part is promoted and the task performance is improved by the information that brings out the sense of accomplishment and ability.
In the future, it will clarify the neural mechanism related to motivation and task performance in various situations, and will contribute to the practice of better educational methods (feedback method of grades, etc.).
Paper information:[PLOS ONE] Neural correlates of the improvement of cognitive performance resulting from enhancedsense of competence: a magnetoencephalography study
