Zoning Out Could Be Beneficial—and May Actually Help Us Learn Faster

Zoning out could be beneficial—and may actually help us learn faster

Aimlessly wandering around a city or exploring the new mall may seem unproductive, but new research from HHMI's Janelia Research Campus suggests it could play an important role in how our brains learn.

Zoning Out or Zoning In? How Aimless Wandering Trains the Brain

Summary: New research reveals that the brain may be learning even during unstructured, aimless exploration. By recording activity in tens of thousands of neurons, scientists found that the visual cortex builds internal models of the environment, preparing the brain for future tasks. This unsupervised learning occurs without any instruction, helping animals learn goal-oriented tasks faster later on. The study highlights how both unsupervised and …