Curious Although it is a concept generally associated with cats, it also has an important place in human nature. One of the questions that scientists have wondered about is which part of our brain is responsible for this sense of curiosity. An answer to this question has been found.

in America from Columbia University Using fMRI scans, the researchers monitored the amount of oxygen in different parts of the brain to track which areas were currently active. This revealed which regions of our brain are responsible for the feeling of curiosity. This could be an important future advantage in treating disorders such as depression, which is characterized by a lack of curiosity.

It was a first in history

neuroscientist Jacqueline Gottlieb““This is the first time we can actually connect the information we’re curious about with how our brains represent that information.” he said. During the experiment, researchers up to 32 participants It showed special images called texform. In these images, ordinary images were distorted to varying degrees. Volunteers were asked to rate their confidence and curiosity in identifying the subject of each textform.

With these evaluations fMRI scans were compared and significant activity was observed in three regions. These regions were the occipitotemporal cortex, which is linked to vision and object recognition, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which controls perceptions of value and trust, and the anterior cingulate cortex, which is used for gathering information.

VmPFC, occipitotemporal cortex It seems to act as a kind of neurological bridge between the levels of certainty and feelings of curiosity elicited by . The less certain the volunteers were about the subject of the images, the more curious they were.

Research Journal of NeuroscienceHe published it in.