This is my first blog post for the Huffington Post, so let me start by introducing myself. I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Austin, where I use brain imaging to study how the human mind achieves its amazing feats and why it sometimes fails. In this blog I plan to focus on how neuroscience and psychology can provide us with clues about how to live better, focusing on topics related to multitasking and information overload.
I will start by admitting up front that I am an information junkie. Try as I might, it's difficult for me to make it through an hour-long meeting without peeking at my iPhone at least once to check my email, and I have, on more than one occasion, come close to hurling myself down the stairs as I try to read emails while descending. Why would I do things that place me in such clear social and physical peril? Part of the answer lies in the brain's response to novelty.
The brain is built to ignore the old and focus on the new. Marketers clearly understand this: If you watch closely, you will notice that heavily-played television ads will change ever so slightly after being on the air for a few weeks. When this change is detected by the brain, our attention is drawn to the ad, oftentimes without us even realizing it. Novelty is probably one of the most powerful signals to determine what we pay attention to in the world. This makes a lot of sense from an evolutionary standpoint, since we don't want to spend all of our time and energy noticing the many things around us that don't change from day to day.
Researchers have found that novelty causes a number of brain systems to become activated, and foremost among these is the dopamine system. This system, which lives deep in the brain stem, sends the neurotransmitter dopamine to locations across the brain. Many people incorrectly think of dopamine as the "feel-good" neurotransmitter because drugs that create euphoria, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, cause an increase of dopamine in particular parts of the brain. However, a growing body of research shows that dopamine is more like the "gimme more" neurotransmitter.
Some of the most interesting research on this topic has been done by Kent Berridge and his colleagues at the University of Michigan. In this research, they videotape rats and then measure how often the rats exhibit signs of pleasure; some wonderful video of these "affective reactions" can be found at Berridge's web site. Their research has shown that blocking dopamine in the brain doesn't affect how often the rats exhibit these pleasure responses. Instead, it reduces the rats' motivation, turning them into rodent slackers. Another neurotransmitter system in the brain, the opioid system, seems to be the one that actually produces the pleasurable sensations, though it too has very close relations with the dopamine system.
Another interesting fact about dopamine is that nearly every drug that people abuse has an effect on the dopamine system (as do chocolate, money, sex, and many other addictive things). Again, the role of dopamine is not in the pleasure that one may get from the drug, but in establishing the craving that keeps one coming back for more, even after the drug has lost its pleasurable effects.
A final important fact about dopamine is that it is very much involved in learning and memory. Learning and memory occur in the brain through changes in the way that neurons connect to one another. We know that the brain is very "plastic," meaning that it can change drastically with experience. However, the brain needs some way to control these changes; after all, we wouldn't want our entire visual system to be rewired to see upside down after doing a single handstand. Dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters that controls this: When dopamine is released, it is a signal to the brain that is it now time to start learning what is going on.
So what does this all have to do with my iPhone? Well, it's hard to imagine a more powerful novelty-generating device than this little 4.8-ounce hunk of metal and glass. Every time it buzzes to signal a new email or text message, it is wiring even more firmly into my brain the desire to pick up the device and look for that precious nugget of new information (which usually turns out to be something completely mundane, like a reminder of another committee meeting). Although there is not yet any published research on this, I am confident that we will soon see that our bond to these devices works through the same mechanisms in the brain that govern addiction to drugs, food, and many other things.
Given all of this, what can we do to prevent ourselves from becoming novelty-seeking zombies? The first thing is to simply become mindful of one's use of media and devices. I find that one of the best things to do is to institute regular vacations from email. It usually takes a couple of days for the itch to check my email every five minutes to go away, and watching it happen reminds me just how obsessed I can become, but it also shows that it's possible to lead a perfectly normal and fulfilling life without constant email access. Once we see that we can live without constant access to our devices, we can start trying to exert some control over device use in our daily lives. Evolution gave us the ability to overcome our urges, but we have to have the will to employ this control. One bit of good news is that we can improve our self-control with practice; more on that in a future post.
As for being addicted to the iphone - I refuse to carry any mobile electronic devices. I know that if I let myself, I could become "addicted" to their use, but I so enjoy observing and experiencing the air that I breathe, and the sights around me, that I am unwilling to give up all of that for an iphone.
The other bad thing about carrying around a phone is that if I have one, people might call me, and I wouldn't want that. The land line with it's answering machine, and the old dependable internet connection on the personal computer, are good enough for me, thank you very much.
"When it is functioning at its best, your mind is constantly seeking out new connections and expanding its knowledge. It pursues change and is constantly changed in the process."
Excerpted from The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great , by Rick Smith
Thanks for sharing your expertise in your inagural post, Russell! I look forward to more!
Enjoy,
Christine Elisabeth Hueber
Our brains can't process all of it.
It's unnatural.
200 years ago all you had to be concerned about was chopping wood, making a home, and killin' and growin some food.
families were more social.
now it's chaos.
Novelty's lure and it's link to evolutionary progress makes sense.
But here's a question I've been waiting to pose to the very next neuroscientist I came across...
Does the brain expend more physical energy in periods of concentrated thought... or when it's busy doing many things, but with less mind muscle? How significant (if at all) is the link between the down and dirty physical work of the brain, and our psychological habits?
I'm trying to gauge the truth of an old saying...
Often one comes across a quote or saying that stays with even after just one read -- I like to think that perhaps some great truth has been discovered because it resonated in such a deep and lasting way. So I once read the following taped to an office wall...
"There is no expedient to which man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."
I've come across more of similar sentiment, and my guilt neurons never fail to remind me of them whenever I turn from the (effort heavy) task at hand, and give in to the lure the today's creative and addictive distractions.
(Damn You, Internets! ...with your blogs and beguiling cat videos)
So I ask if it could be true to a degree -- biologically speaking do we tend to shun flexing our brain muscle? ...if so, why? ...and if not... then why aren't there more neuroscientist??
Just wondering... it's what I do.
Again,
My curiosity on the inner workings of the human mind is perhaps matched only by my curiosity towards this huge playground of a universe we find ourselves in. My question above stems from some casual thought engaged on trying to better understanding the concept of 'order’ ...how complex systems organize (systems of EVERY shape and sort) ...what triggers order and unity ...what sustains it ...but especially what happens when order is threatened.
As this relates to the topic at hand... does the mind/person suffer something more serious beyond simple failures in productivity when they too easily give in to distraction and changes in routine? I in no way what so ever ignore the chemical addictions and aversions that lead the will to act this way and that, but I'm searching to find something below even that. Often ruminating on whether the effort, that goes into maintaining daily/weekly/yearly rituals, mimics any larger universal law and mandate that states that what is necessary for order and a sense of harmony is commitment to work/effort/energy. Life viewed as a great push back against chaos and disorder. The constant struggle against the 2nd law of thermodynamics' sinister plan to do us all in with its evil entropy ray gun.
Then again... maybe I can't get enough of my i-gadgets 'cause they're just so shinny.
Look forward to your future posts!
Meant to end my previous comment with...
Again, Welcome!
IcemanXTS asks what might cause someone to try to multitask but never finish things. I don't think there is a simple story to be told, but it is interesting that different dopamine kinds of dopamine receptors seem to switch between what we call "stability" (which would help stay focused on a single task, but impair our ability to adapt to changes in the world) and "flexibility" (which helps us adapt to a changing world but keeps us from optimally focusing). One kind of dopamine receptor (the D1-like receptors) is important for stability, whereas another (the D2-like receptors) is important for flexibility. Once again, it all comes back to dopamine!
How can we expect someone to learn new habits and response if they are in a human 'rat slacker' state? Sounds more like chemical lobotomy, a masking of underlying causes and an inhibitor of growth and potential. How often do these drugs result in the patient's homeostasis?
Some recent psychotropic med (dopamine blockers) studies indicate escalating suicide rates amongst younger patients. Hopefully they will no longer be legally administered as reported.
How can these drugs be administered when we don't know enough about the side-effects and general malaise they cause on brain and body function?
Maybe he would be more effective if he started one thing and complete it before starting the next thing!
They may not realise but in actual fact they are doing a combination of things one at a time! They tend to be slightly delusional that two or more tasks are being taken on at one time.
The only time that I do see this occurring when people drive and talk on the phone or even scarier text and drive ... then they are truly multi-tasking and it is dangerous for others on the road.
Plus I'm right-brained.