The Neuroscience of You by Chantel Prat

Author:Chantel Prat [Prat, Chantel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

Horse navigation: Learning by carrot or by stick

In “Adapt,” we spent a lot of time discussing the early, automatic shortcuts individual brains take when they’re trying to make sense of the blooming, buzzing confusion of the world “out there” based on their experiences. And in “Focus,” we talked about how those experiences can also shape, and be shaped by, what we learn about the importance of various pieces of information. From your horse’s perspective, these brain functions are a means to an end. To put it simply, your horse learns to pay attention to features of its environment that are associated with good or bad outcomes while at the same time learning to ignore things that have no effect on their decision space. Learning to distinguish the sounds of a language you don’t speak, for instance, is unlikely to be useful. But learning the difference between “ba” and “pa” in native English-speakers might empower you to request a “banana”—a real and delicious food—instead of a “panana,” which isn’t a thing. But to learn which features of the environment are important to consider when deciding what to do next, your brain needs a way to link the environment it’s in, and the choice it makes, to the consequences of that choice.

This process, called reinforcement learning, is one of the strongest influences on your horselike navigation systems. To move you through life in a way that maximizes your rewards, your brain engages in the following four-step procedure: First, it uses the database of your previous experiences to build the most accurate representation it can of the important features of the world around you. When bombarded with information on a busy street, for instance, doing a quick assessment of whether a person walking toward you is holding a tool or a weapon will motivate different actions on your part, while noticing what type of shoes they are wearing may be less consequential.[*] Second, based on your previous experiences in similar environments, your brain builds a representation of the repertoire of possible actions you might take. For example, you could smile and say hello to the person approaching you or engage in some other positive interaction. You might choose to remain neutral or pretend you don’t see them. You could also avoid the person by walking (or running) in the other direction. Of course, there are any number of other actions available, from belting out “Halo” by Beyoncé to deciding to sit on the corner and sketch the scene. Whether your brain considers these actions has a lot to do with your previous experiences in similar contexts. Third, based on what you’ve learned from your previous actions,[*] your horse brain navigates the path it believes will bring you the most success by deciding which of the potential actions you can take is most likely to have a good outcome. Then fourth, your brain compares the actual outcome of this choice with the outcome it expected, and updates its database on the relative “goodness” of that choice accordingly.

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