Distraction and Multitasking

1. Distraction and Multitasking ScienceDaily (July 26, 2006) — Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

3. Distraction and Multitasking ScienceDaily (July 26, 2006) — Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Even if you learn while multi-tasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily.

4. Distraction and Multitasking ScienceDaily (July 26, 2006) — Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Even if you learn while multi-tasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily. Tasks that require more attention, such as learning calculus or reading Shakespeare, will be particularly adversely affected by multi-tasking,

5. Distraction and Multitasking ScienceDaily (July 26, 2006) — Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Even if you learn while multi-tasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily. Tasks that require more attention, such as learning calculus or reading Shakespeare, will be particularly adversely affected by multi-tasking, A study showed that people distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQs. What's the impact of a 10-point drop? The same as losing a night of sleep. More than twice the effect of smoking marijuana.

6. Distraction and Multitasking Using brain-scans he’s found that if we multi-task while studying, the information goes into the striatum, a region of the brain involved in learning new skills, from where it is difficult to retrieve facts and ideas. If we are not distracted, it heads to the hippocampus, a region involved in storing and recalling information. 'There is a cost to the way that our society is changing. Humans are not built to work this way,' Professor Poldrack says. 'We're really built to focus.’

7. Norepinephrine is the chemical of alertness. Dopamine is the chemical of interest. • Novelty, something unexpected or new. • Humor is all about creating unexpected conditions. • Expecting a positive event, anything the brain perceives as a reward. • Dopamine is the neurotransmitter of desire. Dopamine levels rise when you want something, even something as simple as to cross the road. Dopamine is the driver of the reward response. Put simply, dopamine is central to the toward state, to being open, curious, and interested. • The number of connections per second in the brain is also tied to dopamine levels. When the dopamine levels are too low, the number of connections per second in the brain falls.