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attention

·August 11, 2023·5 min read

Brain’s ‘Traffic Directors’: Neurons That Keep Us Focused on Tasks

Researchers have illuminated how our brain maintains focus amidst distractions. Their study identifies “visual-movement” neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) that use coordinated activity called “beta bursts” to suppress distracting stimuli and ensure attention remains on rewarding tasks.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 22, 2023·6 min read

Pay Attention: Kids’ Distraction Helps Them Outshine Adults in Data Retention

Children’s perceived lack of attention may, in fact, make them more efficient than adults in absorbing and retaining information they are instructed to ignore. Researchers discovered children encode secondary information from a given task into their brains, in contrast to adults who focus strictly on the assigned task.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 23, 2023·5 min read

Revisiting the Invisible Gorilla: Fast-Moving Unexpected Objects Capture Attention

A study challenges the long-held belief that our ability to spot unexpected objects is compromised when focused on a separate task. The team showed that individuals are surprisingly good at noticing fast-moving objects entering their field of vision, even when concentrating elsewhere.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 20, 2023·4 min read

Music for Study and Sleep: Surprising Discovery on How Music Boosts Focus and Relaxation

Analyzing data from the popular music streaming service Spotify, researchers found the music we listen to while studying and the songs we prefer while falling asleep share more similarities than music in general.

This shows a hand filled with blueberries

Featured Neuroscience

·April 3, 2023·4 min read

A Handful of Blueberries a Day Could Help Improve Brain Function

Adding a handful of blueberries to your daily diet can help reduce blood pressure, improve memory and cognitive function, and boost reaction times.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·February 15, 2023·3 min read

Paying Attention to Faces May Be Linked With Psychopathology Levels and ‘Big Five’ Personality Traits

Those who are more empathetic and those who score high on extraversion, agreeableness, and openness personality traits are more likely to focus on faces. Those with psychological disorders including depression, anxiety, and alexithymia tend to focus less on faces.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 6, 2023·5 min read

Exercise Intensity Linked to Attentional Control in Late-Adolescent Girls

Teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 18 who perform frequent moderate to vigorous exercise have better attentional control, a new study reports.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·January 23, 2023·4 min read

Dogs Show Things to Humans but Pigs Do Not

While pet dogs and pet pigs pay their owners a similar amount of attention, when it comes to pointing to the location of an out-of-range treat, only dogs direct their owner's attention to the location. Findings suggest directing human attention to an interesting location is not ubiquitous in domesticated animals.

This shows a person checking social media on their cell phone

Featured Neuroscience

·January 3, 2023·5 min read

Habitual Checking of Social Media May Impact Young Adolescents’ Brain Development

Adolescents' brains may become more sensitive when anticipating social rewards and punishments over time with increased social media usage. The findings reveal how social media usage could have important and long-standing consequences for brain development.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 8, 2022·6 min read

A Class of Meditative Practices That Produces Different Effects From Mindfulness-Related Meditation

Study identifies a different class of meditative practices that seek to employ and regulate the state of stress an individual experiences, rather than reduce it, to achieve a more heightened state of focus and attention.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 28, 2022·4 min read

Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and in Particular DHA, Are Associated With Increased Attention Scores in Adolescents

DHA consumption was associated with improved capacity for selective and sustained attention in adolescents, while ALA lowered impulsive behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·September 27, 2022·3 min read

Mechanisms of Psychostimulants on Attention and Learning Revealed

Psychostimulants increase dopamine levels, enhancing task-relevant cortical signals by acting on the striatum and the difference in dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum explains the variability in the drugs' cognitive effects.