Conforme o texto, a região do cérebro que se mostrou mais
ativa, quando da análise dos resultados da ressonância,
corresponde a um sistema de
A study carried out by Lauren Sherman of the University of California and her colleagues investigated how use of the “like” button in social media affects the brains of teenagers lying in body scanners.
Thirty-two teens who had Instagram accounts were asked to lie down in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. This let Dr. Sherman monitor their brain activity while they were perusing both their own Instagram photos and photos that they were told had been added by other teenagers in the experiment. In reality, Dr. Sherman had collected all the other photos, which included neutral images of food and friends as well as many depicting risky behaviours like drinking, smoking and drug use, from other peoples’ Instagram accounts. The researchers told participants they were viewing photographs that 50 other teenagers had already seen and endorsed with a “like” in the laboratory.
The participants were more likely themselves to “like” photos already depicted as having been “liked” a lot than they were photos depicted with fewer previous “likes”. When she looked at the fMRI results, Dr. Sherman found that activity in the nucleus accumbens, a hub of reward circuitry in the brain, increased with the number of “likes” that a photo had.
The Economist, June 13, 2016. Adaptado.
A study carried out by Lauren Sherman of the University of California and her colleagues investigated how use of the “like” button in social media affects the brains of teenagers lying in body scanners.
Thirty-two teens who had Instagram accounts were asked to lie down in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. This let Dr. Sherman monitor their brain activity while they were perusing both their own Instagram photos and photos that they were told had been added by other teenagers in the experiment. In reality, Dr. Sherman had collected all the other photos, which included neutral images of food and friends as well as many depicting risky behaviours like drinking, smoking and drug use, from other peoples’ Instagram accounts. The researchers told participants they were viewing photographs that 50 other teenagers had already seen and endorsed with a “like” in the laboratory.
The participants were more likely themselves to “like” photos already depicted as having been “liked” a lot than they were photos depicted with fewer previous “likes”. When she looked at the fMRI results, Dr. Sherman found that activity in the nucleus accumbens, a hub of reward circuitry in the brain, increased with the number of “likes” that a photo had.
The Economist, June 13, 2016. Adaptado.
Gabarito comentado
Alternativa correta: C - recompensa.
Tema central: interpretação de texto em inglês aplicada a neurociência social. A questão exige identificar, a partir do trecho, a função do nucleus accumbens — expressão claramente mencionada no texto como um "hub of reward circuitry". A palavra-chave no enunciado já aponta para a resposta.
Resumo teórico: o nucleus accumbens integra o sistema de recompensa do cérebro, respondendo a estímulos agradáveis e sinais sociais que antecipam recompensa (ver Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science; Schultz, 1998). Estudos de fMRI mostram aumento de atividade nessa região quando há reforço social (curtidas, prêmios, drogas).
Justificativa da alternativa C: o próprio texto afirma que o nucleus accumbens é "a hub of reward circuitry" e que sua atividade aumentou com o número de “likes”. Logo, trata‑se de um sistema de recompensa — correspondência direta e literal entre o enunciado e a alternativa.
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
A - memória recente: memória recente está associada ao hipocampo e estruturas temporais; não é o foco do nucleus accumbens.
B - defesa: respostas de defesa e medo envolvem principalmente a amígdala, não o núcleo accumbens.
D - repetição: repetição não denomina um sistema cerebral reconhecido; além disso o texto relaciona atividade a recompensa, não a mera repetição.
E - inibição: processos inibitórios dependem sobretudo do córtex pré‑frontal e dos circuitos fronto‑estriatais; o enunciado descreve aumento de atividade ligado a reforço, não inibição.
Dica de prova: sempre procure palavras-chave que aparecem no texto (aqui: "reward circuitry" / "likes"). Em questões de interpretação que citam termos técnicos, a alternativa correta costuma repetir o conceito em linguagem corrente (aqui, "recompensa").
Fontes sugeridas: Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science; Schultz, W. (1998) — estudos sobre sinais de recompensa; revisões sobre nucleus accumbens e reforço social (ex.: Haber & Knutson, 2010).
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