Friday, February 17, 2012

Top Multitaskers Help Explain How Brain Juggles Thoughts (preview)

Features | Mind & Brain Cover Image: March 2012 Scientific American MagazineSee Inside

The discovery of multitasking masterminds is revealing how the brain works when it strives to do several things at once

Image: iStockPhoto (note); Photoillustration by Aaron Goodman

In Brief

  1. Attempting to complete two or more tasks at once causes us to divide our attention, so that we focus less on each of those activities.
  2. A person who drives while talking on a cell phone, for example, is a worse driver than an individual at the legal limit of alcohol intoxication.
  3. A small percentage of the population defies this trend and multitasks with ease. These so-called supertaskers are helping to elucidate the underlying brain mechanisms supporting multitasking and attention.

?Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves,? Albert Einstein is purported to have said. The quote acknowledges a fundamental characteristic of human attention. Sometimes there simply is not enough of it to go around.


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