Neuroscience
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out that multitasking is not efficient. Slow Down, Multitaskers; Don’t Read in Traffic, from Sunday's New York Times quotes several recent & forthcoming studies detailing the inefficiencies of multitasking.
Some interesting tidbits:
"The human brain, with its hundred billion neurons and hundreds of trillions of synaptic connections, is a cognitive powerhouse in many ways. 'But a core limitation is an inability to concentrate on two things at once,' said René Marois, a neuroscientist and director of the Human Information Processing Laboratory at Vanderbilt University." (emphasis mine).
Marois' article was in the November, 2006 issue of Neuron:
"When humans attempt to perform two tasks at once, execution of the first task usually leads to postponement of the second one. This task delay is thought to result from a bottleneck occurring at a central, amodal stage of information processing that precludes two response selection or decision-making operations from being concurrently executed. Using time-resolved functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), here we present a neural basis for such dual-task limitations, e.g. the inability of the posterior lateral prefrontal cortex, and possibly the superior medial frontal cortex, to process two decision-making operations at once. These results suggest that a neural network of frontal lobe areas acts as a central bottleneck of information processing that severely limits our ability to multitask."
Further, the Times article continues, the perception that young'uns are better able to multi-task than oldsters is incorrect: Researchers at Oxford's Institute for the Future of the Mind "... suggests the popular perception is open to question. A group of 18- to 21-year-olds and a group of 35- to 39-year-olds were given 90 seconds to translate images into numbers, using a simple code. ... The younger group did 10 percent better when not interrupted. But when both groups were interrupted by a phone call, a cellphone short-text message or an instant message, the older group matched the younger group in speed and accuracy."
Hmmm. Guess I really should curb my simultaneous music-tweaking, email-checking, beverage-slurping, and (work OR driving).
Slow Down, Multitaskers; Don’t Read in Traffic
By STEVE LOHR, New York Times, 3/25/07
"Think you can juggle phone calls, e-mail, instant messages and computer work? New research shows the limits of multitasking."
--
Isolation of a Central Bottleneck of Information Processing with Time-Resolved fMRI
Paul E. Dux, Jason Ivanoff, Christopher L. Asplund, and René Marois
Neuron 2006 52: 1109-1120
- Attention And Distractibility: Placing Science Waaay In The Backseat
A feature article in today's New York Times: Promoting the Car Phone, Despite Risks By MATT RICHTEL The New York Times Published: December 7, 2009 "Industry pioneers have long been aware of the risks of multitasking behind the wheel, but still marketed...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Fmri Study Of Digit Symbol Task
Usui N, Haji T, Maruyama M, Katsuyama N, Uchida S, Hozawa A, Omori K, Tsuji I, Kawashima R, & Taira M. (2009). Cortical areas related to performance of WAIS Digit Symbol Test: a functional imaging study. Neurosci Lett. Jul 21. Many neuropsychological...
- Brains, Thumbs, And Great Attentional Abilities
From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Are cellphones and the internet rewiring our brains? May 21, 2007 By Sabrina Saccoccio, CBC News Try reading this article to the end without checking e-mail. Find you can't? Before making assumptions of...
- Abstract Of The Day: Fmri And Auditory Attention
Nakai T, Kato C, & Matsuo K. An FMRI study to investigate auditory attention: A model of the cocktail party phenomenon. Magnetic Resonance Medical Science. 2005; 4(2): 75-82. Functional Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Gerontechnology, National...
- Abstract Of The Day: Frontal Lobe Functioning
Ardesheer Talati and Joy Hirsch. Functional Specialization within the Medial Frontal Gyrus for Perceptual Go/No-Go Decisions Based on "What," "When," and "Where" Related Information: An fMRI Study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 2005; 17: 981-993....
Neuroscience
Multitasking (switch iPod on) is Not (check email) Efficient (answer phone)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out that multitasking is not efficient. Slow Down, Multitaskers; Don’t Read in Traffic, from Sunday's New York Times quotes several recent & forthcoming studies detailing the inefficiencies of multitasking.
Some interesting tidbits:
"The human brain, with its hundred billion neurons and hundreds of trillions of synaptic connections, is a cognitive powerhouse in many ways. 'But a core limitation is an inability to concentrate on two things at once,' said René Marois, a neuroscientist and director of the Human Information Processing Laboratory at Vanderbilt University." (emphasis mine).
Marois' article was in the November, 2006 issue of Neuron:
"When humans attempt to perform two tasks at once, execution of the first task usually leads to postponement of the second one. This task delay is thought to result from a bottleneck occurring at a central, amodal stage of information processing that precludes two response selection or decision-making operations from being concurrently executed. Using time-resolved functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), here we present a neural basis for such dual-task limitations, e.g. the inability of the posterior lateral prefrontal cortex, and possibly the superior medial frontal cortex, to process two decision-making operations at once. These results suggest that a neural network of frontal lobe areas acts as a central bottleneck of information processing that severely limits our ability to multitask."
Further, the Times article continues, the perception that young'uns are better able to multi-task than oldsters is incorrect: Researchers at Oxford's Institute for the Future of the Mind "... suggests the popular perception is open to question. A group of 18- to 21-year-olds and a group of 35- to 39-year-olds were given 90 seconds to translate images into numbers, using a simple code. ... The younger group did 10 percent better when not interrupted. But when both groups were interrupted by a phone call, a cellphone short-text message or an instant message, the older group matched the younger group in speed and accuracy."
Hmmm. Guess I really should curb my simultaneous music-tweaking, email-checking, beverage-slurping, and (work OR driving).
Slow Down, Multitaskers; Don’t Read in Traffic
By STEVE LOHR, New York Times, 3/25/07
"Think you can juggle phone calls, e-mail, instant messages and computer work? New research shows the limits of multitasking."
--
Isolation of a Central Bottleneck of Information Processing with Time-Resolved fMRI
Paul E. Dux, Jason Ivanoff, Christopher L. Asplund, and René Marois
Neuron 2006 52: 1109-1120
- Attention And Distractibility: Placing Science Waaay In The Backseat
A feature article in today's New York Times: Promoting the Car Phone, Despite Risks By MATT RICHTEL The New York Times Published: December 7, 2009 "Industry pioneers have long been aware of the risks of multitasking behind the wheel, but still marketed...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Fmri Study Of Digit Symbol Task
Usui N, Haji T, Maruyama M, Katsuyama N, Uchida S, Hozawa A, Omori K, Tsuji I, Kawashima R, & Taira M. (2009). Cortical areas related to performance of WAIS Digit Symbol Test: a functional imaging study. Neurosci Lett. Jul 21. Many neuropsychological...
- Brains, Thumbs, And Great Attentional Abilities
From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Are cellphones and the internet rewiring our brains? May 21, 2007 By Sabrina Saccoccio, CBC News Try reading this article to the end without checking e-mail. Find you can't? Before making assumptions of...
- Abstract Of The Day: Fmri And Auditory Attention
Nakai T, Kato C, & Matsuo K. An FMRI study to investigate auditory attention: A model of the cocktail party phenomenon. Magnetic Resonance Medical Science. 2005; 4(2): 75-82. Functional Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Gerontechnology, National...
- Abstract Of The Day: Frontal Lobe Functioning
Ardesheer Talati and Joy Hirsch. Functional Specialization within the Medial Frontal Gyrus for Perceptual Go/No-Go Decisions Based on "What," "When," and "Where" Related Information: An fMRI Study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 2005; 17: 981-993....