multitasking

Quick brain teaser to prove the limits of multitasking

by

How often do you dis­cuss office gos­sip via chat while par­tic­i­pat­ing in a Zoom meet­ing? Or read a great arti­cle while talk­ing on the phone with a client? Or, wait, think about work prob­lems while help­ing your child with homework?

Yup, it is not easy to stay focused and be tru­ly pro­duc­tive. [Read more…] about Quick brain teas­er to prove the lim­its of multitasking

Can trained older brains outperform untrained younger ones at demanding cognitive tasks? Quick answer: YES

by

__________

Online brain games can extend in-game ‘cog­ni­tive youth’ into old age (Sci­ence News):

“A Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Irvine-led study has found that online brain game exer­cis­es can enable peo­ple in their 70s and even 80s to mul­ti­task cog­ni­tive­ly as well as indi­vid­u­als 50 years their junior. This is an increas­ing­ly valu­able skill, giv­en today’s dai­ly infor­ma­tion onslaught, which can divide atten­tion and be par­tic­u­lar­ly tax­ing for old­er adults [Read more…] about Can trained old­er brains out­per­form untrained younger ones at demand­ing cog­ni­tive tasks? Quick answer: YES

Finally, growing awareness of chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits

by

fog brainBrain activ­i­ty changes seen after chemo (Reuters):

“For some women with breast can­cer, changes in brain activ­i­ty while mul­ti­task­ing could explain “chemo brain” – reduced men­tal func­tion­ing that many expe­ri­ence after chemother­a­py, Bel­gian researchers say. “Cog­ni­tive com­plaints of peo­ple increase with chemother­a­py and [Read more…] about Final­ly, grow­ing aware­ness of chemother­a­py-induced cog­ni­tive deficits

Use and misuse of ADHD drugs and nootropics among teenagers and toddlers

by

Human-brain-pillsRital­in may pose brain risks for young peo­ple with­out ADHD, study shows (Fox News):

“Smart” drugs, like Rital­in, also known as nootrop­ics, are known to increase a person’s atten­tion span, mem­o­ry and abil­i­ty to stay alert. As a result, they have become increas­ing­ly abused by stu­dents seek­ing an extra edge in their stud­ies. Accord­ing to a report from The Part­ner­ship at Drugfree.org and the MetLife Foun­da­tion, approx­i­mate­ly 1.3 mil­lion Amer­i­can teenag­er [Read more…] about Use and mis­use of ADHD drugs and nootrop­ics among teenagers and toddlers

Study: Well-targeted brain training videogame can lead to real-life benefits

by

Brain_Training_videogameA Mul­ti­task­ing Video Game Makes Old Brains Act Younger (The New York Times):

“Brain sci­en­tists have dis­cov­ered that swerv­ing around cars while simul­ta­ne­ous­ly pick­ing out road signs in a video game can improve the short-term mem­o­ry and long-term focus [Read more…] about Study: Well-tar­get­ed brain train­ing videogame can lead to real-life benefits

Brains shape technology as technology shapes brains

by

Is Your Brain Being Wired By Tech­nol­o­gy? (Cen­ter for Brain­Health at UT-Dallas):

“…Research shows we are exposed to three times more infor­ma­tion today as com­pared to four decades ago. This infor­ma­tion over­load leads to more mul­ti­task­ing and forces us to push our brain to do things it was not built to do. Tech­nol­o­gy is allow­ing us, push­ing us to [Read more…] about Brains shape tech­nol­o­gy as tech­nol­o­gy shapes brains