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Find parking in a large city It is many times a challenge, so when you find, you place the car in position, you put the intermittent and lower the volume of music just before starting the maneuver. Have you ever wondered why the volume of music instinctively lows when you are trying to park in A complicated space? It’s not just a strange mania. This common habit has a fascinating explanation from the perspective of neuroscience and reveals How the brain optimizes concentration In critical moments. The effect of music and other stimuli on our attention Victoria Bayón, Neurocoach specialized in brain optimization, explained in The avant -garde that our brain has a limited capacity to process information. When we try to perform a task that requires precision, such as parking in a narrow place or deciphering information from an Excel cells, the brain needs to reduce stimuli to concentrate to the fullest in that task. The music, although it seems that it is only in the background to create atmosphere, occupies a valuable space in the “bandwidth” of the brain, being a cognitive stimulus that should be processed, subtracting potential to the main task. In fact, Researchers from the University of Georgiathey discovered that it is not the same to listen to instrumental music than songs with lyrics, being the latter much more demanding for the brain. Even when you don’t understand your language. Everything adds and processed equally. “When we park, our brain needs to focus all its attention, and music, although it seems not, is occupying a valuable space that could be better dedicated to the task we have ahead,” says Bayón. When an important task begins that requires great precision, the brain prioritizes that “bandwidth” of information, eliminating everything superfluous at that time. For that reason, instinctively we lower the volume Or we stop hearing the background conversations when we are very focused on a certain task. Attention is a limited resource Different Psychological studies have demonstrated something that basically We already knew But we insist on applying: The brain is not multitasking and cannot perform multiple tasks efficiently at the same time. When trying several things at once, the brain only changes the focus of attention, which decreases The quality of our concentration. In the case of the parking lot, that attention must be divided between the music, the noise of the environment and the maneuvers with the car. A Hal Pashler studyProfessor of Psychology at the University of California, demonstrated the interference that occurs when the brain has to divide its attention between simultaneous tasks (listen to music, process the space information of the parking lot and activate the car controls), demonstrating that the brain processing capacity is limited When faced with multiple stimuli. Strategies to maximize concentration If you usually turn off the music or lower the volume before parking, it is a symptom that you Attention capacity is already saturatedso you should reduce all the cognitive noise around you to be more efficient in the main task. Understand how your brain works allows you to design strategies to Improve your ability to concentrate. One way to prepare the environment to reduce concentration problems is minimize cognitive stimuli. Avoid putting music or environmental noise, if possible, avoid having corridors or passage areas in your visual range. That releases space in your brain and will help you concentrate on what really matters. The use of Noise cancellation headphones It can be an excellent option even when you are not reproducing anything thanks to its insulating characteristics, especially in noisy environments such as those of an office. The attention is A skill that is exercised And little by little you can improve, so that the brain is able to isolate those stimuli alone reinforcing selective attention. In Xataka | We are losing the capacity to concentrate, according to a study. The ‘focus blocks’ are the solution to recover it Image | Pexels (Gustavo Fring)