A new study, published in Science Express, looked at the influence of memory of errors in learning. Specifically, the research team looked at how people learn motor skills using previous errors. They found that there may in fact be a type of memory, which the article calls memory of errors, that may be stored by the brain and was not previously known.

Medical News Today reports that people are influenced by “prediction errors.” A prediction error is when the brain predicts a certain result from an action, but the result differs from the expectation. The brain is basically comparing how something actually happens from how it expected it to happen. These prediction errors are learned and applied to future actions.

The researchers designed an experiment using a joystick and a pair of dots seen on a screen. The participants were told to guide a blue dot toward a red dot on the screen using the joystick. Participants were not able to see the joystick that they were holding. Researchers were also able to program the blue dot to move in an off-kilter way.

Using motor memory, the participants were able to compensate their joystick movements accordingly. Within a few attempts, participants were typically able to successfully complete the task. In fact, participants responded more quickly to small errors that pushed them consistently in one direction than to larger errors that were less consistent. The next phase of the research will focus on identifying how the brain applies these memories of error to adjusting actions.