Brain limits capacity for multitasking?

French scientists have discovered the brain's construction limits the ability of humans to make more than two choices at the same time.

French scientists also say that when we try to do two things at once, each half of the brain focuses on a separate task. However, when a third task is added, the performance of all tasks suffer.

They came to these conclusions by doing a research on a group of people exposed to various situations. Their brain activities were monitored while they were performing one or several tasks at the same time.

The scans looked at the frontal cortex, the part of the human brain associated with impulse control. When the volunteers completed one task at a time, one side of a certain area of the frontal lobes lit up. But, when they completed two tasks at the same time, the lobes divided the tasks between them.

The brain was able to control switching between the two hemispheres when carrying out dual functions but accuracy suffered when a third task was added.

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