21.1.10

Games and Brains

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2010/120/4?rss=1

CLEARLY, I must have a small striatum because it took me 3 years to get anywhere in EFZ.

1 comment:

Akuun said...

Related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striatum#Function

It looks like the striatum also has something to do with reward. So maybe it's not just about how fast you learn, but also how much you want to learn.

This also mentions something about trying new things, which makes sense. Fast learning probably has a lot to do with quickly identifying bad habits that need to be extinguished and finding good habits that you realize should be developed further. Being able to quickly sense which is which should have a huge impact on how quickly you improve and staving off that moment when you reach a plateau in skill. Some people will make the same mistakes repeatedly (even in things outside games) either because they're stubborn or because they just don't realize that they're making a mistake in the first place. People that learn quickly tend to catch those mistakes and get them out of the way sooner.

Of course, if you have someone to help you along, then the whole process should go faster if that other person can help you find your strengths and weaknesses. Such a person should also be able to specifically guide you towards good habits, which saves you the time of feeling around and finding them yourself.