To Err is Human

None of us are perfect, though many strive for this lofty goal. Making “mistakes” is a normal part of human behavior, it is the crux of learning for most yet for others it is the bane of their existence. Perfectionist individuals tend to constantly assess their performance, measuring their outcomes by some internalized, rigid standards of right and wrong, best and worst, success and failure, etc. Recent clinical findings suggest there is an area of the human brain where neurologists have isolated processes related to mistake-making. "We have been interested in how the brain processes error," explained lead author Dr. Stephan Taylor, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Reporting in the April 12 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, his team found that an area of the brain called the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) becomes very active when people realize they've made a mistake that carries negative consequences -- for example, losing money.

Depressive and obsessive-compulsive disordered individuals are of particular interest in this research. An evidence-based practice, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, is hypothesized to modify a persons preoccupations and perfectionistic thought processes, hence changing how the brain reacts to or processes this information. For more information regarding this study, link to Brain 'Oops' Center