Women are said to be very good at multitasking compared to men as they are able to achieve so much more within a short period of time, without almost any mistakes. However, new research has revealed worrying details of multitasking, which are detrimental to one’s mental health.
According to the study, multitasking could actually change the way one’s brain works, to the extent that one could actually be more prone to making mistakes, and end up retaining less information.
Scientists in a medical research institute in Paris discovered that when a group of their study participants was asked to complete two tasks at the same time while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the results showed that the brain splits in half and causes one to forget details and make three times more mistakes when given two simultaneous goals.
The prefrontal cortex of the brain that helps in communicating, guiding, and coordinating the functions of the different parts of the brain, makes on one pay attention to a particular task at ago. Meaning both sides of the prefrontal cortex are working together in harmony and adding another task forces the left and right sides of the brain to work independently, lowering your IQ and overall efficiency at work.
Another study by the University of London found that participants who multitasked during cognitive tasks experienced an IQ score decline similar to those who have stayed up all night, experiencing greater difficulty switching from one task to another as they were less mentally organized. Contrary to the popular opinion, that people who multitask are great the effects are most detrimental to adolescent minds.