The overflowing brain : information overload and the limits of working memory /

Individuals often feel overloaded with telephone numbers, computer passwords, Tweets (Twitter messages), and ringing cell phones, to name only a few of the day-to-day things the human brain must process. Accordingly, this book on the overload and limits of working memory is not only fascinating but also timely. In a dozen chapters, Klingberg (cognitive neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) presents an accessible overview of both classical and contemporary studies on memory and attention; limitations on doing two things at once; brain plasticity; the controversy regarding the existence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; and the effects of memory training. The book will be particularly engaging to readers outside the academy, including professionals, but students of psychology, cognitive science, and applied areas such as education, business, and rehabilitation will also be well served by this fine volume. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers; professionals. G. B. Rollman University of Western Ontario

As the technological environment speeds up to a maddening degree, Klingberg, a professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, warns that the huge burden of information overload and multitasking can exceed the limits of our slowly evolving "stone-age" brain. Using data showing the subtle increase in IQ scores during the last century and its link to educational improvements, Klingberg notes a gap between the rapidity of electronic high-tech devices and the brain's relatively slower capacity to process information, leading to memory malfunctions. The text can be somewhat academic, but the amount of scientific fact translated to something the reader can use is still sizable, including keen writing on the impact on working memory of problem solving, meditation, computer games, caffeine and the existence of attention deficit disorder. Klingberg also reviews the evidence that mental "exercise" can increase the capacity of working memory. A highly sane look at the increasingly insane demands of the information age, this book discusses with precision a subject worthy of attention. B&w illus. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved