Many studies have already shown that people who frequently multitask with different media—for example, using the phone, watching TV, and surfing the web simultaneously—perform worse on cognitive tests and are more likely to exhibit emotional abnormalities and social behavior disorders. However, it was not known whether this also leaves any traces in the brain.
Multitasking makes you stupid?
Only recently, a researcher discovered that multitasking doesn't exist at all, because the human brain can only process tasks sequentially, not in parallel. And now scientists at the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London claim to have proven that in people who frequently multitask , the gray matter in one region of the brain shrinks significantly. Neither of these things exactly speaks in favor of multitasking, and yet it is largely touted as a positive thing. People who can do several things at once are usually greatly envied, and you probably wish you had the gift of multitasking yourself. If multitasking shrinks your brain cells, does it make you stupid? What happens in the brain?
In people who multitask, the gray matter shrinks
The "gray matter" the researchers are referring to is also called the "anterior cingulate gyrus." This refers to the layers of the brain where the nerve cell bodies are located, i.e., those responsible for the wiring and processing of information. In contrast, in the "white matter," only the forwarding of information takes place. The cingulate gyrus is an area of the cerebrum that is important for many cognitive functions, aggression, and social behavior, among other things. In their study, the neuroscientists surveyed 75 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 30 about how often they divided their attention between two or more different media technologies simultaneously—that is, how often they watched television and surfed the web or sent messages at the same time. The results of this questionnaire were entered into a media multitasking score.
Cause and effect are unclear
The subjects then underwent a brain scan using an imaging technique. This revealed that only one region of the brain showed significant changes that correlated with the multitasking score. The more the subjects engaged in media multitasking, the lower the volume of gray matter in the anterior cingulate gyrus. All other brain regions showed no abnormalities, and the volume difference was independent of other characteristics of the subjects (such as age, gender, etc.). However, the study was unable to clarify cause and effect. It is quite possible that it is not multitasking that causes the gray matter in the cingulate gyrus to shrink, but rather that a lower amount of gray matter in this area makes the affected individuals more "prone" to multitasking. “ There is still a lot of research to be done in this area ,” says one of the authors, Kep Kee Loh, “ but media multitasking is becoming more and more common these days, and there are growing concerns about its consequences for our cognition and our social and emotional well-being .”
What does this mean for you?
But what does the scientists' findings actually mean for you? Does this make multitasking dangerous and should it be avoided if possible? Indeed, alarm has already been raised, and multitasking has been classified as at least very unhealthy. Results from brain research also demonstrate that a maximum of two tasks can be completed simultaneously, but the trick is generally to complete tasks one after the other and then quickly switch between two or more tasks. Of course, exceptions prove the rule: There are so-called "supertaskers" who manage everything simultaneously without the quality suffering. Such "superbrains" are very rare, however, and very few of us are among them. Other techniques can also help you be productive, such as daily brain training or changing your diet. BRAINEFFECT FOCUS with B5, for example, gives your brain what it needs for long periods of concentration.
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