鈥淚t鈥檚 important to try to get a basic understanding of how the brain works. Even if it鈥檚 dynamic and skilful, and controls itself when it has to focus, it can鈥檛 do any sort of magic tricks,鈥� says Jerker R枚nnberg.
Jerker R枚nnberg, professor at Link枚ping University鈥檚 Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, participated in the panel discussion 鈥淐an young people鈥檚 brains handle the pressure from all the noise?鈥� at the Almedalen Week. In an increasingly digital world, young people have to deal with a huge number of impressions, for instance when social media notifications pop up in their phones almost constantly.
鈥淚n a classroom, a pupil has trouble absorbing what the teacher says, if his or her attention has shifted to a text message. The brain鈥檚 ability to analyse what the teacher is saying is inhibited, and this can become a problem, especially for pupils with cognitive problems such as ADHD,鈥� he says.
To handle the massive flow of information, there are some cognitive functions that are more important than others. One of these is the working memory.
鈥淭he working memory is like a mental juggler whose job is to keep several things in the memory at the same time, for storage and processing,鈥� says Jerker R枚nnberg.
There is no upper limit to how much information the brain can take in. But it can鈥檛 handle too many jobs at the same time; it has to focus on one sense at a time 鈥� sight, hearing, etc.鈥�
鈥淭his is why it鈥檚 dangerous to talk on the phone while driving a car. Visual impressions are suppressed. This can quickly result in a dangerous situation,鈥� he says.
At the panel discussion the audience got to participate in interactive cognitive tests, where they trained their working memory.
The panel discussion took place on 3 July 2017. See a clip from it here (in Swedish):
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