Why your brain can't multitask—and why that's good | René Marois | TEDxNashville Salon

Why the human brain has built-in limits on attention, memory and multitasking, and why those limits may support focus and performance. The talk by cognitive neuroscientist René Marois of Vanderbilt University examines how the brain's constraints can function as part of its design. It draws on his research using brain imaging and behavioral experiments into neural bottlenecks, along with his work on consciousness and voluntary action.

• Neural bottlenecks that limit attention, working memory and multitasking
• Whether capacity limits can help with focus and flow
• Brain imaging and behavioral experiments as research methods
• Research on consciousness and voluntary action

The human brain is astonishingly powerful—and surprisingly limited. But what if those limits aren’t flaws in the design, but part of the design itself—helping us focus, enter flow, and perform at our best? This talk explores how the brain turns its limitations into strengths. René Marois is a cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, where he holds the Winkelried Family Endowed Chair in Neuroscience. His research investigates one of the brain’s central paradoxes: how an organ capable of extraordinary computation can be so limited in what it can attend to, remember and do at once. Using brain imaging and behavioral experiments, his work has helped reveal the neural bottlenecks that constrain attention, working memory and multitasking. He also studies consciousness and voluntary action. His research asks not only why the human mind has such profound capacity limits, but whether some of those limits may actually help us think and perform better. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx