It canguess the future by scanning the brain? In a way, yes, according to a study just published by the magazineThe Journal of Neuroscience. The authors have found aconnection between human brain responses in the nucleus accumbens neurons – the reward center – and future behaviorregarding food and sex. Specifically, they analyzed this region in a group of subjects while they observed images of animals, nature, food and people. And they measured its weight. Six months later they were weighed again and asked about their sexual activity. Comparing the data with archived brain records, they found that those whose brains had previously responded more actively were also the ones who had gained weight at the time of the second test. The brain’s reaction to images with some sexual content was also shown to be related to sexual activity.
“Our goal is to understandsituations in which people face temptations and fail to give in to them“, explains William Kelley, a researcher at Darmouth College (USA) and co-author of the study. That is,the neuroscience of self-control and willpower. “Everything indicates that self-control requires a lot of conscious effort,” adds Kelley. For example, the authors say, if the dessert menu arrives at the restaurant, it is important to be aware in advance of how much it affects us and to keep the response under control. In these cases, a “look” at brain activity can help to guess how we will behave.
