Pay attention and don't get distracted !

Attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour are often linked to how we process and react to the sensory input we receive through our five senses. It is obvious that in order to pay attention and remain concentrated we need to be able to switch off from distracting sounds or movements around us.

When we get distracted we may react by starting to move about or suddenly switch to another point of focus.

More than 99% of everything we receive through our senses needs to be diverted in order for us to be able to pay attention to the 1% related to the task at hand. The brain achieves this by comparing the signals from the right ear and field of vision, with those from the left ear and field of vision. In this way we can concentrate on a single sound source (for instance the voice of the teacher) and limit our visual awareness (for instance just to the book in front of us). If we are not so good at doing this, we will get easily distracted by other sounds or non related things we see or feel.By training the brain to make better and faster connections between the two sides, it is possible to improve attention and reduce hyperactive and impulsive behaviour and sensory distractions.

The SAS distraction test

This easy to apply on-line Auditory Distraction Screening Test, exclusively developed by Sensory Activation Solutions, can help you assess how well you cope in a noisy environment, such as a classroom, open office or café. Auditory distraction and so-called Cocktail Party Syndrome can impact on learning, achievement, behaviour and emotional state.

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Speeding up the brain

There is little doubt that faster and more efficient processing in the brain will help a person to perform better and achieve more. But is it possible to change how the brain processes information?

Synchronising the two sides of the brain

It is the left side of our brain that ensures that we understand language and produce speech, but it is the right side of our brain that looks after the intonation of our speech. This was discovered around 150 years ago, when doctors noticed that patients with a stroke on the left side of the brain often lost speech, and that those with a stroke on the right side mostly spoke in a monotonous voice, without any intonation, rhythm or stress.

More about brainwaves

In most of the SAS programmes we use Binaural Frequency Differentials (BFD), which aim to gently guide our naturally occurring brainwaves in a certain direction, either up or down, faster or slower.

Ear dominance

You know if you are right or left handed, unless you belong to the very select group of naturally ambidextrous people who are equally at ease using their right hand or their left hand for all tasks. There is also mixed handedness, where some tasks are more easily performed with one hand and other tasks more easily with the other hand. But apart from these exceptions to the rule, most people are either right or left handed.

Activating specialised functions

The adult brain of a human weighs about 1.4 kg (3 pounds), and in relation to the size of our body, is much bigger than what would be expected compared with other creatures. This large size does pose special problems for an effective communication between the two sides of the brain and this is probably the reason why specialised centres for specific processes developed in the human brain.