Contents:
- Medical Video: The Science of Productivity
- According to experts, feeling of being watched can improve brain function
- How can it be monitored to make brain function better?
Medical Video: The Science of Productivity
Many people who easily experience "stage fright" and lose concentration when they have to stand in front of a crowd. The same is true when you have to complete office tasks but are supervised by your boss. You may be nervous and slower at work because you feel watched. However, a recent study actually found the opposite. Experts find that doing something while being seen by other people can actually improve brain function, even you become more productive. How can? Here's the explanation.
According to experts, feeling of being watched can improve brain function
It cannot be denied that the biggest fear for most people is to appear in public. For example, presentations in front of important clients, students who will face a thesis hearing, dancers who must be good at dancing in front of an audience, or athletes who are competing, and so on.
Appearing in public does create its own inner pressure. This is because everyone will worry about the reactions and responses of people who watch him about his appearance or style of speech. For example, fear of being mistaken, clothes look untidy, and so on. Excessive anxiety is what then causes feelings of inferiority to nausea so nervous.
If you experience one of them, now there is good news that is quite a relief for you. Recently, a study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience revealed that appearing in front of many people turned out to improve brain function. In fact, this can make you more productive.
How can it be monitored to make brain function better?
At first, Vikram Chib, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, tried to study what happened to the athlete's brain when under pressure.
Depressed feelings are controlled by the ventral stratium, the area of the brain responsible for motivating oneself and triggering motor skills. This means that someone who is under pressure becomes more motivated to show the best.
To clarify the results, Chib and other experts then examined 20 participants aged 19 to 32 years to play video game. However, participants did not necessarily play with as they pleased.
First of all, participants must playvideo game while being watched by two other participants. After completion, then participants are allowed to play video games alone, without being watched. On these two occasions, participants' brain activity was monitored using functional MRI.
As a result, around 5 to 20 percent of participants showed the game video game better when surrounded by spectators, than when playingthe game alone. This is because participants tend to be more motivated to show better performance when someone else is watching.
When participants feel monitored, MRI devices show increased activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. The area of the brain is responsible for observing every movement around and understanding the thoughts of others. That's why participants try to give the best results so they don't experience social pressure from people around them - if they lose the game.
When the dorsomedial cortex becomes active, this triggers the ventromedial cortex area - the part of the brain involved in the award - goes to work. Together, these two signals trigger the ventral striatum to become active as well. As a result, participants' motor skills develop better.
This finding is very useful for triggering someone to be more effective while working or examining at school. Because, you certainly don't want to appear bad in front of other people and cause a negative stigma about yourself, right?
