Keeping the brain alert and active

The prefrontal cortex is one of the most crucial parts of the brain.

It’s linked with executive function skills, which you use for everyday

tasks like decision-making and planning.

For example, say you’re driving down a busy road but you’re late

for a meeting. The bus-only lane is moving a lot faster, but you’re

not supposed to be in that lane. Should you go anyway? If you do,

then you’ll get to your meeting on time. You look at the queue and

see that the police are ahead. You think that you’ve enough time

to get in the bus lane and then get out before you reach the police

car. This decision is an executive function skill.

Here’s another scenario: the phone rings and it’s someone giving

you important information about an event that you’re attending.

You’re busy writing all this information down when you hear a

beep from your computer alerting you that an email has just come

in from your friend. You run over and check your email, but as

you’re skimming it you get distracted and miss some of the infor-

mation about the event.

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