Good news for men: People get better at multi-tasking by practising simple challenges

Men fed up with the old adage that they are unable to multitask can take solace from a recent piece of research which found the ability can be improved with practise. Scientists found people improve thanks to improved information transfer between a round structure within the brain called the putamen and the organ's outer regions. Australian neuroscientists compared the brain activity of 100 healthy adults before and after a week of practising two tasks at once. MRI scans showed improved information transfer between the putamen and the two outer regions, known as the IPS and the pre-SMA. 'Humans show striking limitations in information processing when multitasking, yet can modify these limits with practice,' said the study authors from the University of Queensland, Australia.