Edmonton brain researchers figure out the factors of focus
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University of Alberta researchers have attracted attention for casting their attention at how the brain focuses its attention.
Confused? Pay attention.
Cognitive neuroscientist Kyle Mathewson and master’s student Sayeed Kizuk studied a particular frequency of brain signals used to inhibit or ignore certain stimuli.
They found if a person experiences repetition like a person’s voice in a lecture theatre, those specific brain waves lock onto the timing of the voice and allow that person to block out other minor distractions in the room like phones ringing, bags rustling or pens dropping on the floor.
“We are bombarded with so much information and stimulation that we can’t possibly process it all at once. Whether it be commuting, engaging in our work, studying for a class, or working out, our brains select the useful information and ignore the rest, so that we can focus on a single or a few items in order to make appropriate responses in the world. This research helps explain how,” said Mathewson, announcing the publication of the paper in the fall 2016 edition of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Matthewson has now turned his own attention to finding ways to stimulate those frequencies to improve brain function for specific real-life tasks.
“To better understand how the brain and mind works can help us improve performance and attention in our everyday lives, to improve our safety, increase our work productivity, do better at school, and perform better in sports,” he said. “We’re developing and testing novel, portable technologies to make this possible.”
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