We humans aren’t the most logical creatures. Take information processing: if we were perfect reasoners, we would absorb all the new facts we learn and use them to modify our view of the world. But while we do something like this with good news, bad news tends to go in one ear and out the other. While this good news / bad news effect gives you a more positive outlook on life, it can make you blindly optimistic, unprepared for the real consequences of medical problems or natural disasters.
In order to unravel this irrational thinking, researchers wanted to identify the responsible brain structure. They suspected the left or right inferior frontal gyrus, which is a ridge on the frontal lobes. These parts of the brain helps us update our beliefs and inhibit actions and memories, so the scientists suspected that they may be able to also inhibit our absorption of bad news.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers used magnetic stimulation to disrupt normal brain activity in 30 subjects, targeting either the left or right inferior frontal gyrus, or a control region of the brain. Then the participants had to estimate how likely 40 …
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