Brain and Thinking Power

Having a long and extensive attention span is rare in this distracted world.

What would you do in your free time if social media does not exists? The new generations like generation alpha probably hard to visualize it because they were born when social media already exists. Older generation (Z or millenials) lived without social media a part of their life.

The opportunity cost model: when we’re focusing in a task that is hard or requires a significant mental effort (e.g. coding), our brain thinks about the “cost” of this mental effort: I could be eating, sleeping, or playing game right now" which is more rewarding. Our brain constantly seeks a new reward.

The science behind

Our brain is constantly receiving millions of bits of data, receiving sensory inputs (sights, sounds, touch). Our working memory can hold 4 chunks of informations at once. Working memory is a temporary active thoughts.

Working memory declines as we age. The peak of working memory capacity is when we are in 20s to early 30s. There are several ways to slow the decline, we can not stop aging though. We can make the brain constantly work hard. We can play brain games like sudoku. But the only proven exercise is a game called “Dual N-back” where we should remember a sequence and recall N step back.

Another thing to do is exercise—specifically, aerobic exercise (running, swimming) could improve BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurothropic Factor) which releases protein that can act as a fertilizer for neurons, in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Regular cardio exercises increase blood flow in the brain, preserving processing speed.

Sleep is important. Working memory is consolidated during stage 2 non-REM sleep. If you’re sleep deprived (less than 7 hours of sleep) means you’re accelerating the degradation of working memory.