Shining the Spotlight
on Our Successes
S
ometimes we may feel doomed to repeat our mistakes, but
not if we learn to look to our successes rather than our fail-
ures, suggests research from The Picower Institute for Learning
and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It
hinges on the fact that, “We have shown that brain cells keep
track of whether recent behaviors were successful or not,”
explains one of the scientists, and that when a behavior was Genetically enGineered
successful, brain cells became more finely tuned to what is
being learned. Failure, on the other hand, appears to pro- crops rife with pesticides
duce little or no change in the
brain, nor does failure appear
U.S. growers of genetically engineered (GE)
to trigger any improvement in
corn, soybeans and cotton increased the
behavior.
use of weed-killing herbicides by 383 mil-
In their study, the research-
lion pounds from 1996 to 2008, according
ers worked with monkeys, giving
to The Organic Center’s analysis of Depart-
them trial and error tasks on a
computer screen while monitor-
ment of Agriculture data. This swamps the
ing their brain activity. When
64-million-pound reduction in insecticides
a monkey answered correctly,
associated with GE corn and cotton, result-
a signal lingered in its brain,
ing in a net increase of 319 million pounds
neurons processed information
of poison.
more sharply and effectively,
and the monkey was more likely to get the next task right as
Source: Organic-Center.org
well. It may help explain the longtime saying, “Success breeds
success.”
March 2010 17
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64