How often have you found yourself making a decision and then, change your mind about it? Of course this happens to all people, with the exception of the few, many times. Science say that we keep changing our minds because our brains have a built-in auto-correct system.
Scientists hold two beliefs when explaining how auto-correction in the brain happens. The first believes that the brain undergoes a process which they call a post-decision evidence accumulation where it weighs the different evidence it has gathered.
The other holds the belief that when the brain auto-corrects itself, other mechanisms in the brain are at work. Researchers from Caltech studied 30 years worth of data about brain lesions to find what parts of the brain control reasoning and decision making. They found out that the front lobe plays an important role in these processes. The research team also discovered that the those who have damaged frontal lobes cannot identify their mistakes or monitor themselves, Live Science reported.
Two other different studies have been conducted to find out what happens in the brain when people change their minds. One study was conducted by a group of researchers from the New York University, Cambridge University, and Columbia University.
Their observation led to a conclusion that people make a decision bottom up. This means that the brain continues to accept an incoming stream of evidence before and after a choice have been made,eLifeScience reported.
The other study was conducted by the Trinity college Dublin and Leiden University in The Netherlands. Their conclusion was the direct opposite of the other research because they believe that people make decision from top down. This means that "information that feeds back to influence earlier stages of processing" provides additional input that influences the mind to change its decision.
Even if these two studies provided different conclusions, they can provide more clues that will help scientist understand much better how the brain works.
