Brain study reveals predictive mechanism behind focus and hearing
Summary
A study from Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that the auditory cortex synchronises neural activity with task rhythm, enhancing focus and auditory processing.
Key Points
- The auditory cortex synchronises its activity to the rhythm of a task during active engagement rather than just reacting to sounds.
- Attention reorganises neural timing to predict and prepare for expected sounds rather than simply amplifying important sounds.
- This predictive mechanism helps the brain emphasise meaningful sounds and ignore background noise, aiding focus in noisy environments.
- The findings could improve hearing aids, attention training, and brain-computer interfaces by mimicking this timing-based neural filtering.
