BrainBlog

A feature article in today's New York Times : Promoting the Car Phone, Despite Risks By MATT RICHTEL The New York Times Published: December 7, 2009 "Industry pioneers have long been aware of the risks of multitasking behind the wheel, but still marketed cellphones to drivers." Read the article

If you only do one thing this week … avoid multitasking Often considered the pinnacle of efficiency, multitasking can actually be a negative practice, according to latest research. So stop what else you're doing and concentrate, says Giles Morris Giles Morris guardian.co.uk Monday 5 October 2009 11.33 BST Read the full article

Dr. Ed Vogel of the University of Oregon on Distraction and The Brain , a short YouTube video:

Pattyn N, Neyt X, Henderickx D, & Soetens E. Psychophysiological investigation of vigilance decrement: Boredom or cognitive fatigue? Physiology and Behavior. 2007 Oct 3; [Epub ahead of print.] Department of Cognitive & Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan, 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium; Department of Behavioral Sciences, Royal Military Academy, Renaissancelaan, 30, 1000 Brussel, Belgium. The vigilance decrement has been described as a slowing in reaction times or an increase in error rates as an effect of time-on-task during tedious monitoring tasks. This decrement has been alternatively ascribed to either withdrawal of the supervisory attentional system, due to underarousal caused by the insufficient workload, or to a decreased attentional capacity and thus the impossibility to sustain mental effort. Furthermore, it has previously been reported that controlled processing is the locus of the vigilance decrement. This study aimed at answering three questions...

From yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel : Lost in cancer's fog 'Chemobrain' impairs thinking, memory after chemotherapy; anecdotal brain effects are just starting to get serious study By JOHN FAUBER 01 September 2007 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel [snip] In two small groups of testicular and breast cancer patients, between 60% and 70% of the patients experienced some cognitive decline that was tied to the onset of their chemotherapy, said Christina Meyers, a professor and chief of neuropsychology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "It's subtle," she said. "We are not talking about dementia or anything grossly obvious." Within one year, about half of the patients were back to their pretreatment levels of cognitive ability, Meyers said. [snip] [ ... Read the full article ... ]