From United Press International (also on blogroll at right):
Monkey study highlights brain biology behind 'doomscrolling'
Why do some humans seek out potentially bad news, "doomscrolling" through horrifying headlines, while others shy away from negative information?
It turns out monkeys do the same thing.
Though a recent study of monkey behavior was unable to provide a definitive answer to the question of doomscrolling, the experimental findings -- published Friday in the journal Neuron -- did offer scientists fresh insights into the brain biology behind curiosity and dread.
"In the clinic, when you give some patients the opportunity to get a genetic test to find out if they have, for example, Huntington's disease, some people will go ahead and get the test as soon as they can, while other people will refuse to be tested until symptoms occur," said senior author Ilya Monosov said in a news release.
"Clinicians see information-seeking behavior in some people and dread behavior in others," said Monosov, an associate professor of neuroscience, neurosurgery and biomedical engineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
To better understand this phenomenon, scientists used symbols to train monkeys to anticipate a potentially unpleasant event -- a puff of air to the face.
The first set of symbols alerted the monkeys that a puff of air was a possibility, but with a highly variable degree of certainty. A second set of symbols eliminated the doubt, communicating that either a puff of air to the face was eminent or the coast was clear.
In the lab, scientists noted how the trained monkeys behave after the first symbol appeared. Some monkeys trained their eyes on the second set of symbols, while others averted their gaze, avoiding the potentially bad news....
....MUCH MORE
Sounds like me reading the FT or WSJ.
In other primate news:
Chimps begin to grow embarrassed by their close relation to humans
Today In History: Swedish Chimpanzee, Ola, Wraps Up Investing Career
What Monkey Pornography and Celebrity Worship Tells Us About Human Nature
Commodity traders superior to chimpanzees, research shows
