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surprise

·May 8, 2025·4 min read

How Surprises Trigger Prediction Errors in the Brain

Our brains constantly predict sensory input, and mismatches between expectation and reality trigger prediction error signals. While past research focused on vision, new experiments show that the auditory cortex also produces strong signals when expected sounds are absent.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 28, 2024·4 min read

How the Brain Detects Surprises

Researchers have uncovered how the neocortex and thalamus work together to detect discrepancies between expected and actual sensory events, revealing key insights into brain function. By selectively amplifying unexpected sensory input, the brain generates prediction error signals crucial for learning and adaptation.

This shows neurons in the locus coeruleus

Featured Neuroscience

·June 1, 2022·6 min read

How the Brain Responds to Surprising Events

Surprising events trigger the release of noradrenaline in the brain, helping to focus attention and learn from the experience.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 19, 2021·5 min read

An Element of Surprise Is the Recipe for Creating False Memories

Memory editing occurs on the fly, leaving the brain susceptible to creating memories that may not be accurate.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 25, 2020·5 min read

Basketball on the Brain: Neuroscientists Use Sports to Study Surprise

Researchers monitored brain activity and eye movement of basketball fans watching March Madness games to study how people process surprise.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 24, 2020·7 min read

Brain Waves Guide Us in Spotlighting Surprises

A dynamic interplay of different brainwave frequencies, not dedicated networks, governs how the brain acts to a novel surprise and downplays predictable stimuli.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 13, 2020·4 min read

Calculated surprise leads to groundbreaking discovery in cognitive control research

The activity of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) during motivated control reflects the calculation of surprise. The findings take cognitive control research to new heights by providing insight into how the dACC works as a component of a brain network that supports motivated behaviors.

This is a drawing of an old cassette tape

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·November 7, 2019·4 min read

Enjoyment of pop music classics linked to combination of uncertainty and surprise

Combining neuroimaging data with machine learning, researchers report musical pleasure depends on a dynamic interplay between prospective and retrospective states of expectation.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 15, 2019·5 min read

The 17 Different Ways Your Face Conveys Happiness

A new study reports humans have more universal ways of expressing happiness than any other emotion.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology Visual Neuroscience

·June 20, 2018·3 min read

Dogs Understand What’s Written All Over Your Face

A new study reports dogs use different parts of their brains to process negative and positive emotional cues in human facial expressions.

Featured Psychology

·April 3, 2018·4 min read

Surprise Can Be an Agent of Social Change

Surprise, researchers say, not only has effects on the beliefs of an individual, but also collective effects on the content of culture. As a result, surprise can lead people to change attitudes, shift preconceptions and inspire social change.