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How information is like snacks, money, and drugs -- to your brain 信息如何像零食、金錢和藥物一樣影響大腦 Researchers demonstrate common neural code for information and money; both act on the brain's dopamine-producing reward system Can't stop checking your phone, even when you're not expecting any important messages? Blame your brain. 研究人員展示了大腦中對于信息和金錢共同的神經(jīng)編碼;信息和金錢都會影響大腦中產(chǎn)生多巴胺的獎勵系統(tǒng) 即使知道沒有任何重要的信息,也總是不停地看手機?要怪就怪你的大腦。 A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business has found that information acts on the brain's dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money or food. 一項由加州大學伯克利分校哈斯商學院的研究人員所開展的研究發(fā)現(xiàn),信息對大腦中分泌多巴胺的獎勵系統(tǒng)的作用方式和金錢或食物一樣。 "To the brain, information is its own reward, above and beyond whether it's useful," said Assoc. Prof. Ming Hsu, a neuroeconomist whose research employs functional magnetic imaging (fMRI), psychological theory, economic modeling, and machine learning. "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." Ming Hsu,一位利用功能磁共振成像、心理學理論、經(jīng)濟模型和機器學習來進行研究的神經(jīng)經(jīng)濟學家、助教表示:“對于大腦而言,信息本身就是一種獎勵,無論這一信息是否有用。就像大腦喜歡垃圾食品中的無營養(yǎng)卡路里一樣,我們的大腦會高估那些讓我們感覺良好但可能并沒有用的信息-也就是無聊好奇心。” The paper, "Common neural code for reward and information value," was published this month by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Authored by Hsu and graduate student Kenji Kobayashi, now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, it demonstrates that the brain converts information into same common scale as it does for money. It also lays the groundwork for unraveling the neuroscience behind how we consume information -- and perhaps even digital addiction. 由Hsu和研究生Kenji Kobayashi,現(xiàn)為賓夕法尼亞大學博士后所共同完成的論文《獎勵和信息價值的共同神經(jīng)編碼》于本月在《美國國家科學院月刊》中刊登。這篇論文證實,大腦會像處理金錢一樣,將信息轉(zhuǎn)化為同樣的共同量表。這一結(jié)論也為闡釋我們信息消費行為-也許還包括數(shù)字成癮背后的神經(jīng)科學奠定了基礎。 "We were able to demonstrate for the first time the existence of a common neural code for information and money, which opens the door to a number of exciting questions about how people consume, and sometimes over-consume, information," Hsu said. Hsu表示:“我們首次證實信息和金錢擁有共同的神經(jīng)編碼,這為了解人類如何消費以及偶爾過度消費信息等一系列問題打開了大門。” The paper is rooted in the study of curiosity and what it looks like inside the brain. While economists have tended to view curiosity as a means to an end, valuable when it can help us get information to gain an edge in making decisions, psychologists have long seen curiosity as an innate motivation that can spur actions by itself. For example, sports fans might check the odds on a game even if they have no intention of ever betting. 論文扎根于研究好奇心以及好奇心在大腦內(nèi)部的表現(xiàn)方式。經(jīng)濟學家傾向于將好奇心看作是實現(xiàn)目的的手段。當好奇心可以幫助我們獲得信息并在制定決策時占據(jù)優(yōu)勢時,好奇心就具有價值。心理學家很早就將好奇心看作是內(nèi)心可以激發(fā)我們行動的驅(qū)動力。舉個例子,體育迷可能會在一場比賽中查看獲勝的概率,即使他們并不想賭一把。 Sometimes, we want to know something, just to know. 有時,我們就是想知道一些事,僅僅是想知道而已。 "Our study tried to answer two questions. First, can we reconcile the economic and psychological views of curiosity, or why do people seek information? Second, what does curiosity look like inside the brain?" Hsu said. Hsu表示:“我們的研究嘗試回答兩個問題。第一個,我們能否協(xié)調(diào)經(jīng)濟學意義上和心理學意義上的好奇心,或者為什么人們會尋求信息?第二,大腦內(nèi)部的好奇心看上去是什么樣的?” To understand more about the neuroscience of curiosity, the researchers scanned the brains of people while they played a gambling game. Each participant was presented with a series of lotteries and needed to decide how much they were willing to pay to find out more about the odds of winning. In some lotteries, the information was valuable -- for example, when what seemed like a longshot was revealed to be a sure thing. In other cases, the information wasn't worth much, such as when little was at stake. 為了對好奇心背后的神經(jīng)科學有更多的了解,研究人員掃描了正在玩賭博游戲的人們的大腦。每位參與者都會獲得一系列彩票并需要決定他們愿意支付多少錢來進一步了解贏錢的幾率。在某些彩票中,所提供的信息是有價值的-比如,看上去似乎勝算很小的彩票被證明中獎了。在另一些情況下,信息并沒有太多價值,比如在什么時候風險會很小。 For the most part, the study subjects made rational choices based on the economic value of the information (i.e., how much money it could help them win). But that didn't explain all their choices: People tended to over-value information in general, and particularly in higher-valued lotteries. It appeared that the higher stakes increased people's curiosity in the information, even when the information had no effect on their decisions. 在絕大多數(shù)情況下,受試會根據(jù)信息的經(jīng)濟價值進行理性選擇(比如花多少錢可以幫助自己贏錢)。但是,這些并不能對其所有選擇做出解釋:總體而言,人們傾向于高估信息,特別是在彩票價值更高的情況下。賭注增加似乎增加了人們對信息的好奇心,哪怕信息對其決定沒有任何影響。 The researchers determined that this behavior could only be explained by a model that captured both economic and psychological motives for seeking information. People acquired information based not only on its actual benefit, but also on the anticipation of its benefit, whether or not it had use. 研究人員認為這一行為只能通過一個模型來解釋。這個模型捕獲了尋求信息的經(jīng)濟和心理動機。人們獲得信息不僅是取決于信息的實際益處,還取決于人們對其益處的期待,無論信息是否有用。 Hsu said that's akin to wanting to know whether we received a great job offer, even if we have no intention of taking it. "Anticipation serves to amplify how good or bad something seems, and the anticipation of a more pleasurable reward makes the information appear even more valuable," he said. Hsu表示,這和想要知道我們是否獲得一個工作機會類似,即使我們并不打算接受它。期望會將一些事情的好處或壞處放大,而希望獲得更愉悅的獎勵會讓信息看上去更有價值。 How does the brain respond to information? Analyzing the fMRI scans, the researchers found that the information about the games' odds activated the regions of the brain specifically known to be involved in valuation (the striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex or VMPFC), which are the same dopamine-producing reward areas of the brain activated by food, money, and many drugs. This was the case whether the information was useful, and changed the person's original decision, or not. 大腦對信息是如何做出反應的?通過分析功能磁共振成像掃描,研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),有關輸贏幾率的信息會激活大腦中的某些區(qū)域。這些區(qū)域涉及價值評估(大腦紋狀體和腹內(nèi)側(cè)前額葉皮)。同樣,這些區(qū)域也是可以被食物、錢和許多藥物所激活的、可以分泌多巴胺的獎勵區(qū)域。這就是信息是否有用以及是否改變?nèi)藗冏畛鯖Q定的例子。 Next, the researchers were able to determine that the brain uses the same neural code for information about the lottery odds as it does for valuation or money by using a machine learning technique (called support vector regression). That allowed them to look at the neural code for how the brain responds to varying amounts of money, and then ask if the same code can be used to predict how much a person will pay for information. It can. 接下來,通過使用機器學習技巧(支持向量回歸),研究人員可以判斷出大腦在面對有關中獎概率的信息時,使用的神經(jīng)編碼和在面對價值或金錢所運用的代碼一樣。這就可以使研究人員觀察大腦在面對各種數(shù)額的金錢時所運用的神經(jīng)編碼并且思考是否可以利用同樣的代碼來預測一個人會為獲得信息支付多少錢。 In other words, just as we can convert such disparate things as a painting, a steak dinner, and a vacation into a dollar value, the brain converts curiosity about information into the same common code it uses for money and other concrete rewards, Hsu said. Hsu表示,換句話說,就像我們可以將獨立的事物,比如繪畫、牛排和假期轉(zhuǎn)換為金錢一樣,大腦會將對信息的好奇心轉(zhuǎn)換為它在面對金錢和其他具體獎勵時所使用的同樣的代碼。 "We can look into the brain and tell how much someone wants a piece of information, and then translate that brain activity into monetary amounts," he said. 他表示:“我們可以研究大腦并判斷一個人有多么渴望一條信息,并將大腦的活動轉(zhuǎn)換為貨幣。” While the research does not directly address overconsumption of digital information, the fact that information engages the brain's reward system is a necessary condition for the addiction cycle, he said. 盡管研究并未直接解決數(shù)字信息過度消費的問題,但是信息會吸引大腦的獎勵系統(tǒng)卻是上癮循環(huán)的一個必要條件。 "The way our brains respond to the anticipation of a pleasurable reward is an important reason why people are susceptible to clickbait," he said. 他表示:“大腦對渴望獲得快樂獎勵的響應方式解釋了為什么人們?nèi)菀资艿近c擊誘餌的誘惑。” 需要了解的詞: Dopamine:多巴胺 functional magnetic imaging:功能磁共振成像 empty calories:無營養(yǎng)卡路里 idle curiosity:無聊好奇心 Longshot:勝算很小 akin to:類似于 Striatum:大腦紋狀體 ventromedial prefrontal cortex:腹內(nèi)側(cè)前額葉皮 Clickbait:點擊誘餌 文章來源:科學日報 編輯:質(zhì)控部Susan