Attention Span after TBI

This would definitely be in the top five if I were to create a list of the most frustrating things I experience since my brain injury. I’m nearly six years into this journey, and it feels like I still have the attention span of a four-year-old. Just a few minutes before deciding to write this, I picked up my phone for a specific purpose – here’s what happened…

I picked up my phone, the screen came on and the background image of Costa Rica captured my attention for a moment. As I scanned the screen, I saw a small number is displayed next to my personal email icon, so I immediately wondered if that means I received a response to a query letter that I sent out recently and opened my email to check. No response to my query, but there were two junk emails I needed to delete; an order confirmation from an Amazon order placed yesterday, and a notice telling me I have a new subscriber to my blog. I quickly moved the emails to their correct folders; I’ve learned that my email is so much easier to navigate when everything is where it goes and not just sitting in my inbox.

Finally, I replaced phone down on the charging pad. As I woke my computer, it occurred to me that I had a reason for picking up my phone, but by then I had no idea what it was. So, I picked my phone up again hoping it might spark my memory. I looked at all the icons on my home screen, but nothing came back to me. I did, however, notice that I had a new personal email and several work emails awaiting my attention. And so, the process repeated. Finally, I set my phone back on the charging pad, still having absolutely no clue what my intent was when I first picked it up.

Unfortunately, this Could be My Fault…

Not long ago, I posted about something called “continuous partial attention.” One of the things I learned while researching that topic was that when we practice task switching throughout our days, especially with digital media, we become less able to filter out irrelevant distractions. And, after my severe traumatic brain injury, I returned to work in a high demand role where I was (and still am) almost constantly switching from one task to another throughout my workdays. So, for well over five years, as I worked to increase my neuroplasticity with better lifestyle and nutritional choices, I’ve simultaneously been training my brain to be more and more susceptible to distractions. I need to have a clear plan to retrain my brain to filter out the many distractions that appear throughout each day so that I can focus more effectively. But how do I even start a project like this?

Understanding How our Attention Works

Our brains have limited resources with which to process all of the information about our environment. Prioritizing elements of our surroundings allows us to focus our attention selectively on what we determine to be the most important details. This was a fundamental survival tool for our ancestors that hasn’t disappeared in our modern world. Consider that in a room where there are several conversations occurring simultaneously, our brain tries to filter all that we are hearing to focus on the conversation we are participating in. However, if someone in another conversation says our name, our brain automatically shifts our focus to hear that speaker. Regardless of our activity, the tendency of our brain to be on the lookout for something requiring our attention is always active.

Things that we are currently paying attention to occupy our working memory, and studies show that working memory can only effectively hold three to four items. If one of those items is considered to be more important than the others, a level of precision is added in for that item, which reduces the precision on any other items in working memory. Distractions can, therefore, result in our inability to store information in our working memory even for a short time ⁽¹⁾. For someone who has suffered an injury to their brain, this can be reduced even more.

Reducing Distractions is Challenging

On a conceptual level, it’s easy to understand that reducing our distractions can help us to stay better focused. Still, we are in a world purpose-built to distract us. Computers and smart phones are replete with intentional distractions that we call “notifications” telling you that you have a text message or email unread, that an app requires an update, and any number of other notifications.

The internet is a very carefully designed medium with the singular intent of viewer distraction. If you are researching a topic and go to a website with relevant content, you are often shown content meant to distract you and to keep you on that site as long as possible. There are ads interspersed throughout what you are reading, as well as along the margins, with offers presented as pop-ups that you have to interact with to get them off of your screen so you can continue reading.  

Radio, television, newspapers, and magazines have ads designed to captivate your attention as well. Even driving down the street we are subjected to countless signs and billboards designed to distract us long enough to deliver a message of some sort.

Some Distractions aren’t Optional

And of course, there is day to day life. Consider the challenge of sitting down to write, a task requiring a significant amount of focus. I’m an early riser, and when I start my day, the house is quiet because I’m the only one awake. This is my best time for writing because I have very few distractions. This morning, I had to save an ornament on our Christmas tree from a playful cat, but that was really my only distraction for the first couple of hours.

But during the rest of any given day, there are many things that demand my attention and really can’t be put off. Whether or not it’s a workday, requirements for our attention arise regularly. One of the things I look forward to each day is when my wife Marcie wakes; I bring her a cup of coffee and we sit together in front of the fireplace to share conversation and companionship. Some days we are both very busy and this may be the only time we are able to just sit and enjoy each other’s company without having to keep an eye on the clock.

So, now I think perhaps I’ve distracted myself from my original intent here, which is talking about ways to avoid distractions and develop a better attention span.

How We can Make a Difference

There are many anecdotal listings all across the internet of ways to increase our attention span, some based on science and others not so much. Here are a few methods validated by scientific study results:

1. Mindfulness meditation ⁽²⁾
   1. This study shows that even brief mindfulness meditation in novices improves attention, and that experienced meditators have great boosts in focus and attention.
   1. Here’s a post I wrote about Mindfulness Meditation to help get you started.
2. Staying well hydrated ⁽³⁾
   1. Results of this study show that dehydration negatively impacts attention, and that drinking water subsequently improved the subjects’ focus and attention levels.
3. Avoid multitasking ⁽⁴⁾
   1. Multitasking means division of available attentional resources, resulting in reduced focus and attention.
4. Listening to music ⁽⁵⁾
   1. Melodic instrumental music is shown to enhance attentional control and improve cognitive abilities.
5. Drinking tea ⁽⁶⁾
   1. Caffeine adds to our alertness while the theanine significantly enhances our attention.

In Closing

As shown above, there are ways we can help our attention span through our own intentional behaviors. But as much as I learned in researching this topic, it does nothing for me unless I actually put these things into practice. I do meditate each day, but hydration is typically a hit and miss area for me. I like to listen to classical and easy instrumental background style music, so I’ll try to do this more often. Multitasking is so hard to get away from in today’s digital world, but I’ll make more effort in this area.

And then we come to the drinking tea part. Marcie will be pleased that I found a scientifically backed reason for me to brew myself a daily cup of tea, as she so often suggests. She loves tea and drinks it often. Moreover, she recommends that I should drink tea more often as well for the many health benefits. Turns out she’s right again, but don’t tell her I said that. Oh wait, she’s my copy editor, so never mind.

My guidance to you is to find the things that work for you and make them part of your daily life. This is important for everyone, but especially for brain injury survivors.

References

1. Jason M. Lodge and William J. Harrison, (2019), The Role of Attention in Learning in the Digital Age
2. Catherine J. Norris, Daniel Creem, Reuben Hendler, and Hedy Kober, (2018), Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Attention in Novices: Evidence From ERPs and Moderation by Neuroticism
3. DeAnn Liska, Eunice Mah, Tristin Brisbois, Pamela L. Barrios, Lindsay B. Baker, and Lawrence L. Spriet, (2019), Narrative Review of Hydration and Selected Health Outcomes in the General Population
4. Catherine D. Middlebrooks, Tyson Kerr, and Alan D. Castel, (2017), Selectively Distracted: Divided Attention and Memory for Important Information
5. Yuka Kasuya-Ueba, Shuo Zhao, and Motomi Toichi, (2020), The Effect of Music Intervention on Attention in Children: Experimental Evidence
6. E A De Bruin, M J Rowson, L Van Buren, J A Rycroft, G N Owen, (2011), Black Tea Improves Attention and Self-Reported Alertness