Your brain wasn't built to hold this much information | Richard Cytowic

- Everyone agrees that our attention spans have gone to hell. I call it a tyranny of attention because there's so many demands on our attention coming from so many different directions that we are simply overwhelmed and we don't have the mental bandwidth to cope with it. I'm Richard

Cytowic, professor of neurology at George Washington University and an author of “Your Stone Age Brain in the Screen Age: Coping with the Digital Distractions and Sensory Overload."

- [Narrator] Your Stone Age brain in the age of screens.

- Washing machines and appliances change every 5 or 10 years. The brain doesn't do that. Evolution

doesn't say, oh, it's time for another memory module, a time for another language module.

The modern brain is no different than that of our distant Stone Age ancestor. Evolution

precedes by accretion. That is, once the brain arrives on a solution that's good enough, it keeps it and then adds on new features, sort of like a New England add on house, where you add one room after another and it looks sort of funky, but it works. Working

memory is like the mental scratchpad where we hold whatever we're focused on at the moment, whether it's remembering a short grocery list or trying to remember, an access code, for an app and, it, it's limited in what it can do. How much you can hold everything that we do,

costs us in terms of energy expenditure. And ATP is the fuel that fuels every cell in the body.

ATP stands for adenine triphosphate. Creatures all over the animal kingdom all rely on ATP.

It's like the bedrock of energy transformation. So, for example, if you have to go take a test, you're not doing anything. You're just thinking. But at the end of 3 or 4 of our tests section, you're really beat. You're tired because you have expended a lot of mental energy. So we have to be,

you want to be careful not to waste your attention or spend too much. It's like a bank account that can go into the into the read very easily. The brain operates within a fixed energy limit, bandwidth, and there's no amount of diet, exercise, or Sudoku puzzles that can increase

that. So we have to learn to live with the amount that we have. Listening to one person speak takes

that. So we have to learn to live with the amount that we have. Listening to one person speak takes up about half my bandwidth, and trying to listen to two people at once is impossible, because then we've exceeded it. Now, you might think that as you're scrolling or swiping that you're not

really doing much, but because that bandwidth is so small, and narrow, there's not much left over, and most of the energy goes towards maintaining the physical structure by pumping sodium and potassium ions across membranes. And that leaves very, very little left over for thought.

A great example is the Oscar fiasco, in which they named the wrong best picture.

- [Youtube Clip Speaker 1] For Best Picture...

- [Youtube Clip Speaker 2] You're, come on. La La land.

- Just as Emma Stone was walking off the stage. Cullinan took a picture and tweeted, and that's the exact moment that he should have been discarding the envelope and lining up the next one. Basically, he flooded his working memory, and that's what led to them announcing the

wrong best picture. The brain and the peripheral nervous system is really one big changed detector.

That is a response to any change in current, in the current environment. And so it responds to novelty. Now, back on the savanna, things didn't change very much except the constellations

to novelty. Now, back on the savanna, things didn't change very much except the constellations overhead and the seasons. Now, of course, we're we've got change everywhere. Bidding for our

attention. Now, I mean, take in terms of attention and distraction, I often say that the screens are

attention. Now, I mean, take in terms of attention and distraction, I often say that the screens are like second hand smoke. And so in the fact that who's ever in the line of sight is affected by it. And we've all experienced this in waiting rooms and airport lounges, those huge monitors

it. And we've all experienced this in waiting rooms and airport lounges, those huge monitors with their moving images. They demand to be looked at and trying not to look costs energy as much. So

either way we lose. I think the only way around that would be to put in earplugs and put on a blindfold so you're not distracted by this stuff. This what I call forced viewing. Is it ironic that good looking at me on a screen? And the answer is not if you're just focused on my talk right now,

but if you're trying to do three things or five things at once, then your focus is really shot. I

think the term, you know, dopamine reward is being thrown around too loosely. It's sort of shorthand for anything that feels good. You know, a good meal will give us a dopamine hit. So, I mean, it's we're getting we're getting these these squirts, all day long. But there are two pleasure

circuits that exist in the brain. One related to wanting and reward and the other to pleasure and liking. The two systems differ in how easy they are to trigger. Now, the wanting and reward system

liking. The two systems differ in how easy they are to trigger. Now, the wanting and reward system is very easy to trigger. It's network is diffused widely throughout the brain and basically in every crevice. But it's impossible to satiate. And this is the basis of the hedonistic treadmill.

crevice. But it's impossible to satiate. And this is the basis of the hedonistic treadmill.

As soon as we get something that we want, we want something else. Pleasure is very short lived. Even Aristotle pointed this out long ago. On the other hand, the opioid system is smaller in

lived. Even Aristotle pointed this out long ago. On the other hand, the opioid system is smaller in its expanse in the brain is harder to trigger. We can satiate and this is the basis of addictions, really. Studies show that, behavioral addictions such as, you know, excessive swiping at your

really. Studies show that, behavioral addictions such as, you know, excessive swiping at your screen or TikTok addiction, activates the same brain areas as do physical addictions. So alcohol,

cocaine, other kinds of drugs. This has been shown in many experiments where the anxiety level rises minute by minute as you take your phone away. The tech giants know that there's only 1440 minutes in a day, and so they fight ruthlessly for our eyeballs, and they want to keep

us glued to their platform as long as possible, because that's how they make their money. I mean,

Reed Hastings of Netflix said it long ago. He said sleep is their biggest competitor, not Amazon Prime, not Hulu, not the other streaming services. They have become expert in exploiting, positive, intermittent reinforcement. I mean, I know what they're doing. And yet when I see that next episode in five seconds, it's like, okay, what time is it? Oh, I can I can watch another

hour. This is the same mechanism that's used by slot machines in casinos to keep us playing.

hour. This is the same mechanism that's used by slot machines in casinos to keep us playing.

That is, we scroll and we get a hit or something interesting or a good piece of news, and that's a reward. And so we said, oh, let's get another one. And we keep going. And so, but the rewards come

reward. And so we said, oh, let's get another one. And we keep going. And so, but the rewards come infrequently and on an unpredictable schedule. And that's what keeps us glued to the, to the to the scrolling. So you are physically addicted as well as behaviorally addicted. How can you reclaim

the scrolling. So you are physically addicted as well as behaviorally addicted. How can you reclaim your attention? Good question. Well, the most effective thing would be to turn the phone off,

your attention? Good question. Well, the most effective thing would be to turn the phone off, but that also turns out to be the hardest thing for people, because they have what's called nomophobia, a fear of being without their phone. We are really addicted to the to the woosh that

happens when a text message comes in. We really have trained ourself like Pavlov's dogs when these stimuli come in. The screen lights up, we get the woosh or we sit there wondering, gee, has

anybody liked me? I, you know, you get anxious, just not used, not being able to hang on to it.

One of the things you can do if you're not willing to put the phone down or turn it off, adjust the settings on it and your television so that you're not getting these this huge number of photons hitting your retina. In the book, I give examples for this. The first thing you should do is go to your iPhone and turn on the blue-yellow tritanopia filter. Turn down the brightness as much as you're

comfortable with. On your television, which are really, really bright. Those OLED screens. You

comfortable with. On your television, which are really, really bright. Those OLED screens. You

can to turn down the picture mode and the contrast mode and the brightness way down by a factor of 40 and you'll still have a great picture to look at. It's just you're not going to be bombarded by all this, this light coming at you. The other thing would be then what, the kind

of light that's emanating from these very bright screens. And that is you're getting too much short wavelength light or blue light. Now, blue light packs more energy in its photons than any other wavelengths, and it penetrates all the way to the back of the eye. Blue wavelengths also signal,

the onset of darkness and then the arrival of light in the morning. Now, any photo receptors could have evolved to handle this and give us our circadian rhythms of sunlight and sunset. Blue light penetrates the oceans more effectively than anything else. And

sunset. Blue light penetrates the oceans more effectively than anything else. And

that's where the photo receptors in all life first evolved. So that's why we're sensitive to blue light. People have suggested using blue light blocking glasses which are tinted yellow.

Yellow tinted glasses are good for glare if you're sensitive to glare, for example. But

those are really worthless. In order to filter out enough of the blue short wavelengths, you need a dark orange lens and it's so dark that you can barely see what you're doing. So,

you know, you can show the effectiveness in a lab, but for everyday living and trying to get around, you'll be stumbling all over the furniture because you won't be able to see anything. Another thing

that matters is what you're doing at night. Having regular hours of going to bed and waking up is one of the best things that you can do to reclaim your attention span and your focus. Why is that?

Well, when you're when you're asleep, the brain is not just passive. You're not. You're not a sack of potatoes lying in bed.Our sleeping brain is highly active metabolically. It's consolidating

memory. It's clearing out waste products that have accumulated over the day. And, it's processing emotions. And so if we don't allow it to do these things by shortchanging ourself on sleep,

emotions. And so if we don't allow it to do these things by shortchanging ourself on sleep, then it's equivalent of having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.8 You're really going to suffer the next day. And there's no such thing as catching up on sleep. I mean, you can't stay awake

all night and then decide, well, I'm going to sleep in on the weekend. It doesn't work that way.

And why is that? It has to do with our circadian rhythm and the cycle of sleep. Now we hit the pillow and we go through four stages of sleep. Stage one, two, three, four, which is the deepest slow wave sleep. And that's where all this repair process happens. And then we go back up stage

three, two one. And that's about 90 minutes after we've hit the pillow. And then boom, we enter our first REM stage. And that's where we dream. So I tell my medical students, for example, if you have to give a presentation in the morning, go to bed, set an alarm clock for 5 a.m. if you need to,

and cram and review and prepare your thing then, because at that point you're going to be refreshed from a good night's sleep. Your memory is going to be primed, your tanks are going to be full, and you're going to perform much better than if you had stayed up late cramming. So what are some

of the things that you can do in terms of sleep hygiene, to establish a healthy pattern of sleep and wakefulness? Well, one would be to try to minimize tech. Don't have a TV in your bedroom,

and wakefulness? Well, one would be to try to minimize tech. Don't have a TV in your bedroom, for one thing. Try to have regular hours of going to sleep and waking up in the morning. The more

you can keep a regular period like that, the better off you are. Your room should be fairly cool. 68 degrees is ideal. Don't bundle up and get too warm. If you find yourself that you

cool. 68 degrees is ideal. Don't bundle up and get too warm. If you find yourself that you need to throw the covers up in the middle of the night, then you've started out too hot. Another

thing that matters is what you're doing at night. Getting into TikTok and politics and religion and all these other things that can rile us up, are not a good thing to do after dinner. Certainly

not in the in the hours before bedtime. Because it's just gonna, it's going to get our adrenaline up. It's going to interfere with our sleep. And if once it does that, that interferes with our focus,

up. It's going to interfere with our sleep. And if once it does that, that interferes with our focus, our attention span, our memory, all those kinds of things. So just deals with self-control and emotional intelligence. Am I able to throw the circuit breaker and not get into that argument?

emotional intelligence. Am I able to throw the circuit breaker and not get into that argument?

If you're about to have an argument, the best thing is for both of you to just zip it and have a good night's sleep and then talk about it in the morning. And you'll find that in the morning, whatever you were, you were all riled up about, really isn't all that important anymore. And

again, it's a question of emotional intelligence and self-control is can you take the bait? Do you

realize what's happening and say, I'm not going to go there. That takes a great deal of resilience, because at the end, when you get all riled up and indignant, who are you hurting? You're only

hurting yourself. The solution is really very obvious is that you have to engage with other people in real life. Try to agree to meet somebody for coffee or to to take a walk in the park. Now,

when you're interacting with another person or small group of people, your conversation interaction is very meaningful. You're there for a reason. You're getting something out of it. It

feels good. Your oxytocin, which is the the binding hormone, they're being released. That

doesn't happen when you're looking at a screen. And, when you're on a zoom meeting and looking at 20 people on the screen. That doesn't happen either. That, in fact, is very exhausting. People

talk about zoom fatigue for several reasons. One, the camera is always in the wrong place, and so you're not quite sure where to look. You're also worried about how do I look? Am I coming across okay? Do I look all right? And just being able to focus attention like that is draining. The other

okay? Do I look all right? And just being able to focus attention like that is draining. The other

thing is that the video and the audio are chopped up into different streams. So what happens is, when you and I are having a conversation, there are normal signals through our body language and through the tone of our speech of when it's time for me to talk, stop talking, and when it's time

for you to respond. But with, when the audio is chopped up in zoom meetings, you get this sputtering. And so it's people's attention that they're really focused on like, okay, well, can I,

sputtering. And so it's people's attention that they're really focused on like, okay, well, can I, can I get an f word in now? And that's tiring. So that's what the zoom fatigue is all about.

One of the things you can do is just take a deliberate break, throw that circuit breaker and stop all the busyness, stop all the things that you're trying to do at this moment. The Dutch

have a wonderful concept called “niksen” which means the art of doing nothing. So you get up from your computer and you stare out the window. You look at the trees. You listen to the birds.

You watch the branches swaying in the wind. And you do this for, I don't know, three minutes is enough to throw that circuit breaker and, take you out of the busyness for a minute. So you

have basically you here you are at tilt, and then you do a niksen moment, and you and you lower that level of engagement. And so you can start you can, you know, start over again. And you know, niksen isn't it's not meditation. It's not a forced moment of doing nothing. It's just

a voluntary of just, you know, look up. You're outside taking a walk, look up at the buildings.

What's what's out there? You're so used to just looking at ground level or walking along, looking at your phone and, know, running into lampposts. So just put the phone aside. Stop. Look around.

Breathe. That's niksen That's throwing the circuit breaker. I call silence an essential nutrients.

So, silence is an essential nutrient, because when we evolved 3 billion years ago, the world was pretty quiet.Mostly you heard the rustle of the wind. And that was it. You know, if you heard a snap of a twig. Well, that was, you know, you you put yourself on alarm. Whoa. What's that? Is

that a danger coming? You know? So something out of the ordinary activated or a change detector, and it could be. Well, what is it? Is it a threat or is it an opportunity? Is it,

you know, is it a lion coming to after me, or is it the possibility of a mate or a meal? So,

you know, the brain did not evolve to be on 24/7. It needs periods of downtime to restore itself.

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