Failure Can Be Rewarding, Study Finds

Making a mistake can be a rewarding experience – as long as your brain has a chance to learn from it.

Researchers at University of Southern California used an MRI study to determine that participants’ brains could activate the “reward circuit” or the “ventral striatum” if they were put in a situation that allowed them to figure out what they did wrong. 

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, looked at 28 participants, with an average age of 26. The subjects responded to a series of questions. If they chose wrong they lost money, but if they chose right they earned money.