|
How is it that we can whistle a tune while working, drive while having a phone conversation or listen to music while doing other things? Our brain appears to have a control center that allows us to multitask. At a recent meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping in Toronto, researchers presented data that dispells the notion that the brain process sight and sound in different areas without influencing each other.
Research presented by Jennifer Johnson and Robert Zatorre of McGill University, Montreal, asked subjects to listen to short, novel melodies and look at changing geometric shapes on a computer screen, separately and then at the same time. When multitasking, participants were asked to focus more on the music or the shapes at various points in time. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) then recorded what happened in their brains.
As expected, when someone only listened to music, the auditory part of the brain activated and visual stimulation by itself activated the visual area of the brain. However, multitasking activated what is believed to be a 'control center' located in the pre-frontal cortex, on the left-hand front side, just above the temple. This area seemed to divide and control activity between the visual and auditory parts of the brain. This is the first time that a specific area has been identified that could control both visual and auditory activity.
The researchers point out that there is generally a dominant activity that takes precedence and that one event can often distract the other. Which may explain why listening to loud music can distract a student from studying or talking on a cell phone can lead to decrements in driving performance.
Another recent study on brain organization, authored by Michael Fox and colleagues at Washington University, supports the importance of the frontal cortex region in multitasking and dynamic, functional networks that correlate with attention-demanding cognitive tasks.
In yet another variation on this theme, a recent commentary in the American Journal of Public Health entitled ""Whistle While You Work: A Historical Account of Some Associations Among Music, Work, and Health" reviews the impact and history of music and work and health.
Johnson and Zatorre Cereb. Cortex.2005; 0: 391
Fox MD et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Jul 5;102(27):9673-8
Am J Public Health. 2005 Jul;95(7):1106-9
5:30:12 PM 
|
|
