In the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that published a research which demonstrated that the brain converts information into the same common scale as it does for money. The new study explains that the new information acts on the brain’s reward system in the same way as money or food, and that’s why even when people are not expecting any important messages they can’t stop checking their phones.
It definitely lays the groundwork in order to unravel the neuroscience behind how we consume information and even digital addiction. Ming Hsu, from University of California, Berkeley in the US said, “To the brain, information is its own reward, above and beyond whether it’s useful.”
Hsu said that for the first time they were able to demonstrate the existence of a common neural code for information and money and this opens the door to a number of exciting questions such as how people consume, and sometimes over-consume, information.
Ming Hsu further said, “And just as our brains like empty calories from junk food, they can overvalue information that makes us feel good but may not be useful — what some may call idle curiosity”.
(Image Courtesy: Telangana Today)
