Multi-tasking is increasingly common habit among our world with many tools and gadgets to help us get more efficient.  People often think of the ability to multitask as a positive attribute, to the degree that they will proudly tout their ability to multitask. However, new research shows that multi-tasking affects the brain’s learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted.

Russell Poldrack, UCLA associate professor of psychology and co-author of the research. “Even if you learn while multi-tasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily. Our study shows that to the degree you can learn while multi-tasking, you will use different brain systems.

“The best thing you can do to improve your memory is to pay attention to the things you want to remember,” Poldrack added. Read more on multi-tasking