A small part of a macaque’s brain is activated when it sees another
monkey making a mistake.
Credit: Elisabeth Aardema/iStockphoto
23 comments:
Elle
said...
Wow! I thought that that article was very interesting because it shows how alike we are and how many similarities can be passed down from a common ancestor. I would really like to learn more about the medial frontal cortex and how it works.
Wow! I thought that that article was very interesting because it shows how alike we are and how many similarities can be passed down from a common ancestor. I would really like to learn more about the medial frontal cortex and how it works.
That was amazing! I agree with Elle. It was really fascinating to learn what a macaque monkey is and that a part of the front of the brain, the medial frontal cortex can become more active when another monkey makes an error. How is the that part of the brain triggered? Does the monkey have different feelings when learning from another's mistakes or does its mind just becomes more active?
I think that the article was very interesting, and I have an answer to Josh's first question. I think that the monkeys knew to push the right button after they pushed the wrong button because they figured out that if you press one button, you get a treat; if you press the other, you don't. It's possible that the first monkey made the wrong choice on the first try and knew that it wasn't the right button.
I also agree with Elle. We are very similar to monkeys and our brains are very similar too. I think that the brain is a great topic to study. I also agree with Alyssa when she asked, "How is that part of the brain triggered?" I think that there is maybe some reflex or something along those lines that when the monkey looks at the other one messing up, or getting the right answer, something in their brains knows that they have to do the same thing, or not do the same thing, but I'm still not sure exactly how it works. I thought this article was very interesting, and I'd love to learn more about this.
I agree with Alyssa. I thought it was very interesting how a monkey could react to another monkey's mistake but not its own. I wish they went more into detail on how that is possible. I also wished that they would have said why monkeys can't learn from their own mistakes.
I agree with josh on how the monkeys can learn from others mistakes but not theirs. I also think that being able to notice others mistakes and not yours is very interesting because you would be much smarter and cautious of your surroundings.
This is cool and all, but I am surprised that we have not discovered this earlier. It's a huge benefit to the well-being of animals, and a great scientific advancement for humans that animals can do this. Everyone knows that we're more evolved than animals, but there pretty good. Although, the article did say that it didn't always work. The article said this was because the cells weren't in use when it didn't work, but they were when it did work.
I agree with Elle and Alyssa. It is quite amazing how the macaque monkey learns when it makes mistakes. I thought that our DNA with monkeys were 99% alike, but I did not know that monkeys could detect their mistakes.
I think that this is amazing. I agree with Jahan, Elle, and Alyssa. I knew that monkeys and humans were somewhat alike, but I didn't know that they could sense their fellow's error. I would also like to learn more about the medial frontal cortex and about any other interesting things monkeys could do.
Ethan said... I really liked this article. The most interesting thing that I learned is that when Ellen de Bruijn said that parts of the brain might help people process information about another’s errors. After I read this article it made me want to study a little more about the brain and how the cells work when someone messed up.
I thought that it was an okay article, but it wasn't the best. I thought that it was cool that there's a specific part of our brain made to learn from mistakes, and I thought it was cool how they tested it. On the other hand, how would they know one of the buttons is bad? Before they got their first treats, how were they supposed to know that if they pushed the right button they would get a treat? Finally, I wanted to know more about the medial frontal cortex. I just wanted to know how it worked, and how it developed, because I don't think that humans could have had it before humans made their first mistake.
Wow! I never though of it like that. It is very fascinating to know that animals and humans are very similar in so many ways. We react very similarly. Also, it amazing to know what triggers our brains. I would love to learn more about how the medial frontal cortex works.
Cool! I think that it is interesting how the monkey's medial frontal cortex were seen active. Also, the fact that it is only specific cells that react is interesting, too. I believe that this trait will increase chances of survival. If a macaque sees one monkey eat a poisonous berry and they remember not to eat that berry, it will help them survive. I still wonder what they used to test these monkeys, and whether they are from the zoo or wild. These are both variables, and they could change the result.
To answer your question, Weston, the monkeys were probably taught how to do the little "game" before the scientists did the actual experiment. To answer your question, Finn, I think that they do learn from their mistakes, just they learn from others' mistakes as well.
I wonder if there are other primates that might have this same group of cells. Might other animals ,like dogs or cats, have them too? What about time span? If a macaque sees another monkey making a mistake, would they remember not to make that mistake two days later? This experiment was good, but there are a few unanswered questions. I hope that the scientists answer these and more in the near future.
Overall, it was a very interesting article. I applaud the scientists who did this. It allows a a bit of a perspective into the complicated brains of animals.
I agree with Nicholas, I thing that we could have figured out earlier, after all monkey's D.N.A. are almost exactly the same as ours. I thought that this was an interesting article, it made me think about how maybe monkey's brain cells are somehow evolving.
I agree with Nicholas, I think that we could have figured this out earlier, after all monkey's D.N.A. are almost exactly the same as ours. I thought that this was an interesting article, it made me think about how maybe monkey's brain cells are somehow evolving.
I agree with Rachel, I think it was cool that monkeys/animals and humans learn from others mistakes. Now that I think of it, when I see someone get the wrong answer to a question, it registers in my brain. Hopefully we will have a lesson on the medial frontal cortex, it seems very interesting. I did not really understand what it was, so I looked it up online and it was very detailed and I understand it more! Apparently, the medial frontal cortex plays a pretty important role in our brain. We monitor other people fail at something, and then we don't make that mistake. I did not know there was such thing as that in our brain!
I agree with Elle about it is interesting how alike we are to the common ancestor, I also agree with josh that it was cool to learn that monkeys learn from other's mistakes not their own, and Emilynee that the frontal cortex was active fact was unique.
It is very weird to me how the monkey's brain can figure out mistake from others not them-selves. I also found out that human and monkey both learn from other's mistakes more than they learn from their own.
I thought this article was really fascinating! I always knew monkeys and humans were similar in the way their bodies were built. However I had no idea that they were like humans mentally as well. This shows us that monkeys are closer related to us than we think. It was really cool reading about the medial frontal cortex. I would like to learn more about that in the future. It was kind of funny when reading that monkeys learn from mistakes, as do humans.
23 comments:
Wow! I thought that that article was very interesting because it shows how alike we are and how many similarities can be passed down from a common ancestor. I would really like to learn more about the medial frontal cortex and how it works.
Wow! I thought that that article was very interesting because it shows how alike we are and how many similarities can be passed down from a common ancestor. I would really like to learn more about the medial frontal cortex and how it works.
That was amazing! I agree with Elle. It was really fascinating to learn what a macaque monkey is and that a part of the front of the brain, the medial frontal cortex can become more active when another monkey makes an error. How is the that part of the brain triggered? Does the monkey have different feelings when learning from another's mistakes or does its mind just becomes more active?
I had never thought that animals can learn from others mistakes but they can't learn from their own.
I wonder how the monkeys knew which button was the correct one. I also wonder why the first monkey chose the color that it did.
I think that the article was very interesting, and I have an answer to Josh's first question. I think that the monkeys knew to push the right button after they pushed the wrong button because they figured out that if you press one button, you get a treat; if you press the other, you don't. It's possible that the first monkey made the wrong choice on the first try and knew that it wasn't the right button.
I also agree with Elle. We are very similar to monkeys and our brains are very similar too. I think that the brain is a great topic to study. I also agree with Alyssa when she asked, "How is that part of the brain triggered?" I think that there is maybe some reflex or something along those lines that when the monkey looks at the other one messing up, or getting the right answer, something in their brains knows that they have to do the same thing, or not do the same thing, but I'm still not sure exactly how it works. I thought this article was very interesting, and I'd love to learn more about this.
I agree with Alyssa. I thought it was very interesting how a monkey could react to another monkey's mistake but not its own. I wish they went more into detail on how that is possible. I also wished that they would have said why monkeys can't learn from their own mistakes.
I agree with josh on how the monkeys can learn from others mistakes but not theirs. I also think that being able to notice others mistakes and not yours is very interesting because you would be much smarter and cautious of your surroundings.
This is cool and all, but I am surprised that we have not discovered this earlier. It's a huge benefit to the well-being of animals, and a great scientific advancement for humans that animals can do this. Everyone knows that we're more evolved than animals, but there pretty good. Although, the article did say that it didn't always work. The article said this was because the cells weren't in use when it didn't work, but they were when it did work.
I agree with Elle and Alyssa. It is quite amazing how the macaque monkey learns when it makes mistakes. I thought that our DNA with monkeys were 99% alike, but I did not know that monkeys could detect their mistakes.
I think that this is amazing. I agree with Jahan, Elle, and Alyssa. I knew that monkeys and humans were somewhat alike, but I didn't know that they could sense their fellow's error. I would also like to learn more about the medial frontal cortex and about any other interesting things monkeys could do.
Ethan said...
I really liked this article. The most interesting thing that I learned is that when Ellen de Bruijn said that parts of the brain might help people process information about another’s errors. After I read this article it made me want to study a little more about the brain and how the cells work when someone messed up.
I thought that it was an okay article, but it wasn't the best. I thought that it was cool that there's a specific part of our brain made to learn from mistakes, and I thought it was cool how they tested it. On the other hand, how would they know one of the buttons is bad? Before they got their first treats, how were they supposed to know that if they pushed the right button they would get a treat? Finally, I wanted to know more about the medial frontal cortex. I just wanted to know how it worked, and how it developed, because I don't think that humans could have had it before humans made their first mistake.
This was so confusing how the monkey learns from other mistakes but not their own. But isnt there a phrase called you learn from your mistakes?
Wow! I never though of it like that. It is very fascinating to know that animals and humans are very similar in so many ways. We react very similarly. Also, it amazing to know what triggers our brains. I would love to learn more about how the medial frontal cortex works.
Cool! I think that it is interesting how the monkey's medial frontal cortex were seen active. Also, the fact that it is only specific cells that react is interesting, too. I believe that this trait will increase chances of survival. If a macaque sees one monkey eat a poisonous berry and they remember not to eat that berry, it will help them survive. I still wonder what they used to test these monkeys, and whether they are from the zoo or wild. These are both variables, and they could change the result.
To answer your question, Weston, the monkeys were probably taught how to do the little "game" before the scientists did the actual experiment. To answer your question, Finn, I think that they do learn from their mistakes, just they learn from others' mistakes as well.
I wonder if there are other primates that might have this same group of cells. Might other animals ,like dogs or cats, have them too? What about time span? If a macaque sees another monkey making a mistake, would they remember not to make that mistake two days later?
This experiment was good, but there are a few unanswered questions. I hope that the scientists answer these and more in the near future.
Overall, it was a very interesting article. I applaud the scientists who did this. It allows a a bit of a perspective into the complicated brains of animals.
I agree with Nicholas, I thing that we could have figured out earlier, after all monkey's D.N.A. are almost exactly the same as ours. I thought that this was an interesting article, it made me think about how maybe monkey's brain cells are somehow evolving.
I agree with Nicholas, I think that we could have figured this out earlier, after all monkey's D.N.A. are almost exactly the same as ours. I thought that this was an interesting article, it made me think about how maybe monkey's brain cells are somehow evolving.
I agree with Rachel, I think it was cool that monkeys/animals and humans learn from others mistakes. Now that I think of it, when I see someone get the wrong answer to a question, it registers in my brain. Hopefully we will have a lesson on the medial frontal cortex, it seems very interesting. I did not really understand what it was, so I looked it up online and it was very detailed and I understand it more! Apparently, the medial frontal cortex plays a pretty important role in our brain. We monitor other people fail at something, and then we don't make that mistake. I did not know there was such thing as that in our brain!
Bianca said...
I agree with Elle about it is interesting how alike we are to the common ancestor, I also agree with josh that it was cool to learn that monkeys learn from other's mistakes not their own, and Emilynee that the frontal cortex was active fact was unique.
It is very weird to me how the monkey's brain can figure out mistake from others not them-selves. I also found out that human and monkey both learn from other's mistakes more than they learn from their own.
I thought this article was really fascinating! I always knew monkeys and humans were similar in the way their bodies were built. However I had no idea that they were like humans mentally as well. This shows us that monkeys are closer related to us than we think. It was really cool reading about the medial frontal cortex. I would like to learn more about that in the future. It was kind of funny when reading that monkeys learn from mistakes, as do humans.
I agree with Tessa. I never knew how similar humans' and monkeys' bodies are.
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