Brain Can Process Two Conversations at Once

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin announced that the human brain can process two conversations at once for a brief period. The researchers discovered that for around one to two seconds the brain begins following a new conversation before fully letting go of the previous one, creating a brief overlap where both are represented simultaneously. The findings were published in PLOS Biology and challenge the long-held view that people can only focus on one speaker at a time. The team measured participants' brain activity using electroencephalography while they listened to two speakers at once against crowd noise and switched attention between them. A unique neural signature appeared on the EEG during the switch. Professor Giovanni Di Liberto said our findings suggest that some people may naturally be better multitaskers than others, allowing them to better explore what's happening around them without immediately losing focus on their current conversation. The research may explain why some navigate busy social spaces well and why others find noisy places exhausting. It could aid smarter hearing aid development.