Gizmorama - October 27, 2014

Good Morning,

According to researchers at the University of Texas, learning happens best when the brain is allowed to rest and given time for reflection. Take a moment to ponder that.

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Those who rest their brain and reflect learn better --*
AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) - All work and no play makes the brain a dull toy. At least that's what new science out of the University of Texas suggests. Learning happens best, researchers say, when the brain is allowed to rest and given time for reflection.

In a recent experiment, scientists found that when test subjects reflected upon previously learned material during a rest period, they then performed better on subsequent tests. Those who reflected on disparate subjects during their down time, didn't perform as well on later tests.

"We've shown for the first time that how the brain processes information during rest can improve future learning," Alison Preston, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Texas, explained in a recent press release. "We think replaying memories during rest makes those earlier memories stronger, not just impacting the original content, but impacting the memories to come."

Until now, learning scientists had assumed old memories interfere with new memories. Now they know that, at least in some cases, the integration of old and new and can boost learning.

"Nothing happens in isolation," Preston said. "When you are learning something new, you bring to mind all of the things you know that are related to that new information. In doing so, you embed the new information into your existing knowledge."

Researchers will next try their experiment on children, as the results may have significant implications for modern education strategies. But how would this conclusion play out in the real world? How could a teacher use this research to teach better?

"A professor might first get them thinking about the properties of electricity," explained Preston. "Not necessarily in lecture form, but by asking questions to get students to recall what they already know."

"Then, the professor might begin the lecture on neuronal communication," Preston added. "By prompting them beforehand, the professor might help them reactivate relevant knowledge and make the new material more digestible for them."

Preston's work was assisted by Margaret Schlichting, a graduate student at UT. Their research is detailed this week in the journal PNAS.


*-- New study suggests fish like to have fun --*
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (UPI) - It's only natural to assume small-brained animals like fish would care about little outside of the quest for food and mates, but according to a new study by researchers at the University of Tennessee, some of them -- like cichlid fish species -- like to play.

Of course, scientists can't ask a fish if it is having fun; they must develop a definition of fun that works in the context of the animal kingdom. That's what Gordon Burghardt, an evolutionary biologist at Tennessee, has done, allowing him to finger such organisms as wasps, reptiles and invertebrates as capable of play -- of having having fun.

"Play is repeated behavior that is incompletely functional in the context or at the age in which it is performed and is initiated voluntarily when the animal or person is in a relaxed or low-stress setting," said Burghardt, lead author of the new study on cichlid fish.

While studying three cichlid fish over the course of two years, Burghardt and his colleagues observed a behavior that fits his definition of play. The three fish would periodically strike at a bottom-weighted thermometer, and would do so regardless of the presence or absence of food or other fish. The researchers believe the fish, like other animals, are drawn to the righting motion that happens when the thermometer is pushed down and then returns to its original position.

"We have observed octopus doing this with balls by pulling them underwater and watching them pop back up again," Burghardt said. "This reactive feature is common in toys used for children and companion animals."

Burghardt says it's important for scientists to readjust their understanding of play and see unexplained behaviors as part of an animal's evolutionary development -- not random.

"Play is an integral part of life and may make a life worth living," Burghardt concluded.

The study was published this week in the journal Ethology.

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