In a recent study, published in Science, 16 April 2010, examines how the human brain can concurrently pursue two goals at the same time, dividing the goals between the left and right medial frontal cortices. The study concludes that “The human frontal function seems limited to driving the pursuit of two concurrent goals simultaneously.”
This is interesting for several reasons, the first being the idea that we live in a binary universe – constrained by polarities. Our brain has the two hemispheres, left and right. So it seems obvious that we have developed an ability to do two, and only two, things effectively at the same time.
However, the second reason I find the study interesting is the possibility that humans are actually capable of doing a lot more than two things at once. Evidence for this is found in Harry Kahne, who could do six things at the same time. An interview (from Strand Magazine, October 1925) and Multiple Mentality Course can be found online at Rex Research.
Whether it is desirable to develop the ability to multi-task in so many things or not is debatable. With magic, it is generally a case of single-minded focus on a desire or outcome, pulling together ‘divided’ parts of the psyche to work together in harmony. However, the ability to develop the mind beyond its current, apparent limitations can also be beneficial. Kahne makes a very important point for anyone involved in any type of self-development: “The day of the analytical mind is past … you’ve got to go beyond mere analysis and on to synthesis, or you will be a galley slave all your life, chained to the System or the Machine!”
Read the BBC article: Brain ‘splits to multi-task’
Abstract for the recent study:
Divided Representation of Concurrent Goals in the Human Frontal Lobes
Sylvain Charron and Etienne Koechlin
The anterior prefrontal cortex (APC) confers on humans the ability to simultaneously pursue several goals. How does the brain’s motivational system, including the medial frontal cortex (MFC), drive the pursuit of concurrent goals? Using brain imaging, we observed that the left and right MFC, which jointly drive single-task performance according to expected rewards, divide under dual-task conditions: While the left MFC encodes the rewards driving one task, the right MFC concurrently encodes those driving the other task. The same dichotomy was observed in the lateral frontal cortex, whereas the APC combined the rewards driving both tasks. The two frontal lobes thus divide for representing simultaneously two concurrent goals coordinated by the APC. The human frontal function seems limited to driving the pursuit of two concurrent goals simultaneously.
Recent Comments