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distraction

·June 27, 2025·6 min read

How the Brain Filters Distractions to Stay Focused on a Goal

A new attention model reveals how the human brain allocates limited perceptual resources to focus on goal-relevant information in dynamic environments. Researchers developed “adaptive computation,” a system that prioritizes important visual details—like traffic signals over flashy cars—based on task relevance.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 18, 2025·4 min read

Negative Distractions Most Disrupt Attention and Linger in Memory

A new study reveals that upsetting distractions significantly impair our ability to sustain attention and also linger more strongly in memory. Researchers tested this by having participants perform a 10-minute visual attention task while emotionally charged images appeared in the background.

This shows people surrounded by screens.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·April 15, 2025·4 min read

Brain Learns to Tune Out Distractions with Repeated Exposure

Our brains can adapt to filter out repeated distractions, according to a new EEG study. Participants learned to ignore frequent visual distractions, such as a red shape in the same location, while searching for a target.

This shows a woman, a cell phone and laptop.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·March 29, 2025·5 min read

Why Simply Putting Away Your Phone Won’t Help You Focus

A new study reveals that placing your smartphone out of reach doesn’t significantly reduce distraction or boost productivity. While participants used their phones less when they were farther away, they simply shifted their attention to other devices like laptops. The core issue isn’t the phone itself but the deeply ingrained habits and routines we’ve built around it. Smartphones remain the preferred tool for distraction due to their multifunctionality, portability, and tactile design.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 20, 2025·4 min read

How the Brain Ignores Distractions to Stay Focused

When focusing in noisy environments, the brain adjusts not by concentrating harder but by ignoring distractions that were previously disruptive. Researchers developed a neural network model showing that people fine-tune their attention based on past experiences with distractions.

This shows a woman eating whole watching TV.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 17, 2024·5 min read

Distracted Eating Fuels Later Indulgence

Distractions during meals, such as watching videos or playing games, can lead to decreased enjoyment and satisfaction, triggering compensatory overconsumption of pleasurable activities later. This phenomenon, termed "hedonic compensation," suggests that individuals seek to fulfill their unmet enjoyment quota by indulging in other pleasurable activities.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 25, 2023·5 min read

Our Innate Novelty Cravings Amplified by the Digital Age

A recent paper shifts the blame for our tech-driven distractions from information overload to our minds' innate craving for novelty. The research suggests that the ease with which digital platforms provide fresh, ever-changing content has magnified our predisposition for 'checking habits'.

This shows a woman looking at a smartphone

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 11, 2022·4 min read

Constant Smartphone Notifications Tax Your Brain

Constant push notifications on smartphones may affect cognition by decreasing concentration and increasing distraction. Researchers found heavy smartphone use was associated with poor concentration recovery following a notification and alterations in brain activity that made people more sensitive to push notifications.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 28, 2022·4 min read

Why Silly Distractions at Work Can Actually Be Good for You

Having fun with co-workers can help to reduce stress at work, a new study reports.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 10, 2020·6 min read

How the Brain Focuses While Ignoring Distractions

Mouse study pinpoints the precise location in the brain where distracting stimuli are blocked, allowing for concentration on specific tasks. The findings could have implications for the treatment of ADHD and schizophrenia.

This shows a woman juggling random items such as shoes and a laptop

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 13, 2019·4 min read

Distractions distort what’s real

Distractions may change our perceptions of reality, making us believe we witnessed something different from what we really saw.

This shows a cartoon of a woman trying to read with lots of distractions in the background

Featured Neuroscience

·June 12, 2019·5 min read

How we tune out distractions

A pathway linking the basal ganglia to the thalamus enhances sensory discrimination and is used to suppress 'background noise'. The pathway, which is controlled by the prefrontal cortex, selectively suppresses sensory input as it flows to the thalamus.

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distraction

How the Brain Filters Distractions to Stay Focused on a Goal

Negative Distractions Most Disrupt Attention and Linger in Memory

Brain Learns to Tune Out Distractions with Repeated Exposure

Why Simply Putting Away Your Phone Won’t Help You Focus

How the Brain Ignores Distractions to Stay Focused

Distracted Eating Fuels Later Indulgence

Our Innate Novelty Cravings Amplified by the Digital Age

Constant Smartphone Notifications Tax Your Brain

Why Silly Distractions at Work Can Actually Be Good for You

How the Brain Focuses While Ignoring Distractions

Distractions distort what’s real

How we tune out distractions

One Gene Rewires Fear Circuits and Fuels Anxiety

Exercise Proven to Boost Kids’ Mental Health

Sleep Learning: How Synapses Strengthen While We Rest

Regular Sex May Ease Painful Menopause Symptoms

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