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The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory

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In the novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert, and the movies of the same title, the future world included humans called "mentats." These were people, who with the aid of a drug, were able to highly train their brains so that they could function like human computers, that is with the precision and capacity of electronic computers. An intriguing idea.

Now to the present day: "Our understanding of the human brain has grown exponentially in the past few decades." So here are fascinating findings from that recent research, solid information, not someone's guesses. This is a cutting-edge, up to date exploration of the human brain, its limitations and potentials, scientifically based on research and testing, both the author's and that of other scientists.

Dr. Torkel Klingberg, a true leader in the field of neuroscience, in this book, points out that "all types of experience and learning modify" our brains and that "rather than being static", our brain maps are "forever being redrawn" (page. 11). This points to the human brain's "plasticity," that is, it not only changes but can be trained, improved.

Some evidence: Between 1932 and 1978, the average IQ of 7,500 test participants increased by 3 points, roughly 3% per decade. We're getting smarter.

The underlying theme is the capacity of our brains and in particular our ability to retain information, memory, both short and long-term. The current vast amount of available information is making increasing demands on our attention and our ability to process it and use it. Are we being pushed to handle too much? Are we facing a "mental meltdown"? Or, is our capacity being exercised and thereby increased? The evidence argues for the latter conclusion, that like weight lifting, we get stronger by lifting "heavier weights," that is by dealing with increasing demands.

Also, the author gives evidence that reading, chess, playing a musical instrument, and dancing (not necessarily all of these) can improve our ability to think and solve problems ("cognitive ability") if done several times a week (page 128).

This is not super-light, easy reading. On the other hand, the author writes well, and with a little effort his ideas are quite accessible. For anyone who likes to keep up on what we know about our complex and mysterious brains and what we are learning about them, this is a real find.

In the 1980s, sociologist James Flynn made a startling discovery: That the IQ score of the general population had been increasing by 3% a decade (the "Flynn Effect"). The average IQ score of 100 had persisted, but Mr. Flynn discovered the difficulty level of IQ tests had been increasing as well. In other words, an unchanged IQ test administered 60 years ago would make a star out of an average 18 year old today. Given that anatomically, the Homosapian brain is not much different than the Cro-Magnon's 40,000 years ago, to what can this rise in intelligence be attributed to?

Mr. Klingberg, a professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, believes the increasingly complex world and the demands put on our mental capacity is the chief culprit for the "Flynn effect".

In "The Overflowing Brain", Torkel Klingberg explores the limits of the brain and whether it's possible to enhance its capacity to better meet the challenges of today's complex world.

Early in the book, Mr. Klingberg identifies various types of attention and focuses on one: The working memory. He cites a 1956 article written by cognitive psychologist George Miller, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two". The "Seven" refers to the number of items the fixed capacity of the brain is able to hold and process at any given time; the mental bandwidth. The working memory keeps information active for a few seconds for tasks from attention control to solving logical problems.

Mr. Klingberg's work, however, gives too much attention to the working memory and completely ignores other components of intelligence such as pattern recognition and prediction. While it's true that increasing the bandwidth of the working memory eases the bottleneck of information flow, what gets short shrift is the processes by which this information is put to use. It's not always the case that more information equals better output. Our cognitive power can undoubtedly get a boost from improving the amount of information retained and processed in our working memory, but other factors such as where and how to spot relevant information, and what conclusions to draw from this information are more important components of intelligence.

And Mr. Klingberg's proposed ideas to enhance our working memory capacity do not extend much beyond experiencing the increasing demands of the world we live in. His advice boils down to loading the working memory to its capacity and not allowing it to "overflow". It is at that point that we will perform optimally.

Ultimately, "The Overflowing Brain" suffers from an overflow of a partially pertinent idea (the working memory) for coping with our complex world, and a deficiency in practical advice on how to enhance it.

I got this book because I have been noticing that my memory has not been working as well as it used to. I came to the conclusion it was not about getting older, but about "information overload". We are presented with more information per an hour and per a day than anytime in past history and are required to memorize more than before. When I reviewed my own life, I found that I was actually holding in memory more names, more phone numbers, more summaries of what different people do (with more different kinds of specialized functions), etc. It only seemed that I was able to not recall as much, but I was actually recalling more. Quite like the metaphor of an overloaded RAM Computer memory, at one point it gets too much to process and starts function more slowly.

The book is a good summary of Brain research in regard to memory. It makes distinctions between stimulus memory and intentional memory, working memory versus short term memory (how they are different and how they are related), brain plasticity (how the brain is changing and can change), how working memory relates to things like ADHD (and whether this is a real problem or an effect of information overload, and what can be done). It reads well and is easy to understand. It is positive in that it seems that the overload challenges are forcing our brain to make good changes. There are practical suggestions about what we can do to assist the process.

I like the way the book goes into various studies that have been done and it shows ways in which working memory can be improved. Some comes from Zen Buddhism and some comes from various other ways of exercising our memory muscles. There are discussions of things like whether computer games are healthy for people to do and what the results of objective tests actually are. The book is also well illustrated with charts, diagrams, and even some humorous and relevant cartoons.

Through Amazon's Vine review program I received an "uncorrected advance reading copy" of The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory. As a non-scientist with a background in the (visual) arts, I was pleased to find that this book is reader-friendly and not overly technical.

In addition to having a background in the arts, I am a long-time meditator who has worked as an instructor for mindfulness-based stress and pain management courses in hospitals. I have often suggested that course participants be wary of employer demands that they engage in multitasking (or "simultaneous performance") which is, I've suggested, a euphemism for "doing too many things at once." I wrongly thought that multitasking, as opposed to "mindfully" doing one thing at a time, could only lead to stress.

After reading The Overflowing Brain I appreciate that the relationship between multitasking and stress is contingent rather than necessary. As author Torkel Klingberg makes plain, information occurs when demands on our "working memory capacity" exceed our capacity, and the result is stress. (At the risk of oversimplifying, working memory is our capacity to keep information in focus for brief periods.) But demands on our working memory capacity can also be too low, and when this is the case "we become bored and apathetic." The ideal is when "demand and capacity, or skill and challenge, are in a state of equilibrium." When this ideal is realized, we may enter into a state of "flow" as defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (I understand that his last name is pronounced cheeks-sent-me-high), former head of the University of Chicago psychology department, and, as Klingberg puts it, we may "develop to our full capacity."

Overall, The Overflowing Brain is another in a string of recent educational books that elaborate on one or another aspect of brain plasticity, and that reinforce the idea that brain training through "conscious intensive practice of a certain function" is the key to developing our brains.

The Overflowing Brain, by Torkel Kingberg comes at exactly the right time. Klingberg, a Swedish researcher and professor of neuroscience, takes a cognitive approach to describing the issues of information overload and interweaves summaries of a number of interesting scientific studies with his own studies on this topic. Just how far can the brain stretch? Are there limits -- and have we reached these limits?

The first seven chapters deal with the contrast between working memory and long-term memory. Although initially fascinating, the book spends way too much time on this contrast. The point is obvious after the first three chapters. For me, the more intriguing moments in the book come with the discussion of brain plasticity. Despite the limitations of our "stone-age brain," as Klingberg calls it, we appear to have an infinite capacity to deal with information overflow. Unfortunately, this, the most interesting part of the book, is given short shrift. One short chapter -- a bewildering, abbreviated, and speedy detour into ADHD and ADD -- and then another even shorter chapter. This is a shame because this is where some of the most original ideas of the book lie.

Another limitation is the writer's style. Each chapter ends with a number of questions -- some of which are answered in the next chapter and some of which are not. This ends up being a rather annoying quirk of the text -- especially when questions are asked and then not answered.

It is possible that the act of translating this book has affected its quality. The ideas are interesting and worth reading. Unfortunately, the balance between the new and intriguing ideas and the old summaries of ideas is off kilter. As a result, the book, while an easy read, feels unsatisfying.

Like many people, I find myself constantly bombarded with calls, emails, meetings and a host of other information that can cause me to think my memory is less than adequate. Torkel Klingberg, in The Overflowing Brain, helped me understand just why my brain seems so forgetful sometimes and what I can do to improve my memory.

Note that this isn't really a "self help" book, but a book about how the brain works - at least to the best of our understanding - and what shortcomings the brain has in regards to more modern demands. After all, we share a very similar brain to our much earlier ancestors, and yet we are confronted with far more data and inputs than they could imagine. One statistic suggested that we meet as many people in a week as our distant forefathers met in years.

As it turns out from his research and well-referenced research from a number of other neurologists, we have short term and long term memory, and the short term memory is the really problematic one. You may have heard of the 7 plus or minus 2 theory, which states that we can hold about 7 items in our short term working memory. It seems that this is about right, but what's also important is that so many activities use the short term "working" memory that it is very difficult for us to keep all the data and information we receive straight.

The author also looks at issues such as multi-tasking and why some people may be better at that task than others, and also at brain plasticity. It turns out that as a whole, we are getting smarter and our brains, over generations, are adapting to the barrage of information and relationships. Yet they still aren't as efficient at managing all the information as we are at creating it.

This is a really interesting book if you have a desire to learn more about how the brain works and recent research into how the brain actually functions. It came as a surprise to me to learn how much we still don't know about the brain, and about all the types of research underway to learn more. The book does recommend some methods of improving working memory and identifies several activities that sharpen the brain - including practicing a musical instrument or playing chess. These sharpen the brain for different reasons - the instrument through repetition, chess through the forecasting of the range of options on the board.

I would have enjoyed a slightly stronger conclusion - what changes or adaptions does the author believe the brain will undergo as we face ever increasing demands and inputs? What should all of us, at any age, do to increase our working memory and mental acuity? Where does the future of neurology and brain science lie? But, with all of that said, this is a very approachable book about what could have been a difficult subject.

I was hoping for a lot of practical advice but more than 50 pages into the book found the following statement: "All this may seem pedantic and academic, and without much relevance to anyone not exceptionally interested in cataloguing different kinds of nerve cell in the frontal lobes (which I admittedly am)." My response was, "no kidding."

However, Klingberg does eventually tell readers how to give instructions to ADHD students. This seems like a better long-term strategy than just prescribing Ritalin. More importantly, for me, he goes on to describe several activities, such as reading, chess and playing a musical instrument, which have been found to be associated with later relative improvement of cognitive ability and lower risk of dementia.

I was surprised to learn that, according to Klingberg, physical exercise showed no such associated improvement. It seems to me if the blood-flow is constricted, as in vascular dementia, increased exercise would help... but what do I know?

One important point that Klingberg makes several times is that to deliver positive results, mental training must be close to the limits of our capacity. Building the brain is similar to building muscle. Another finding: the effects of training escalated from year to year... "improved abilities give more intellectual stimulation, which in turn fuels the ability."

Key may be getting into the "zone" or, as Klingberg explains it, the concept of "flow" ...when we are "completely focused on the work we are doing, which requires a high level of challenge and skill."

For those who want to explore further, the author informs readers of initiatives such as Seriousgames.org, an organization that advocates for truly educational games and Memory Pharmaceuticals, which is focused on developing innovative drugs for the treatment of debilitating central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and certain psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

Sometimes a little dense... maybe the author's just trying to get us to stretch our brains a little. Good exercise and somewhat rewarding.

Torkel Klingberg, Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the Stockholm Brain Institute, is one of the world's leading experts on neuroplasticity and neurobiology of working memory. He has taken time from his prolific research and scientific publications to write a popular science book about this subject. The book is an intellectual delight that makes fascinating reading! It is clearly written at a level that is easily readable by interested nonspecialists and laypersons curious about cognitive science.

The book is written somewhat like a scientific mystery story, taking the reader on a step-by-step guided tour through recent worldwide psychological and neurobiological experiments. Each experiment uncovers an integral piece of the puzzle demonstrating exactly what is working memory and its relationship to intelligence and problem-solving.

In the introduction, Klingberg says: "I have tried to write a book on a series of associated studies that together build up a story. I will be drawing on as many bits of information as we need to piece together a jigsaw puzzle that gives at least part of the picture, even if it doesn't reproduce the entire scene."

The author begins by explaining some of the theories about how working memory evolved in primitive man. He ends by suggesting how working memory is continuing to evolve and adapt to the demands placed on it by modern culture. Along the way, the author shows us the importance of working memory to the understanding of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We learn about what type of pastimes (e.g., playing chess, reading, playing computer games, doing crossword puzzles, etc.) has the ability to improve or train working memory and which do not. We are taken inside many of the leading experimental research projects attempting to train and improve working memory.

The author explains that there is a direct correlation between improvements in working memory and improvements in intelligence. The author explains "The Flynn Effect" which demonstrates that IQ performance has improved steadily throughout the past century. The author then goes on to hypothesize that much of this improvement can be attributed to improvements in working memory brought about by human adaptation to the ever-increasing complexity of modern life...and more recently, to the widespread trend toward multitasking.

I am not a scientist, but I found this book captivating, intriguing, compelling, and easily readable. As a caveat, I am a retired academic research librarian and have a strong interest in scientific experimentation and my career has been dominated by abundant exposure to academic writing of all kinds.

As a librarian, I strongly encourage the purchase of this book by all libraries, both academic and public. In addition, this book should be a welcome addition to the private libraries of psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, social scientist, or anyone in the general public who is interested in keeping abreast of the science of the mind.

This book by Torkel Klingberg,M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience the Karolinska Institute is an excellent introduction to the concept of "working memory" and new research indicating that training can enhance working memory.

Most workers in advanced industrial economies are subject to an increasing amount of information overload. We are now functioning in an increasingly intense information environment. Many people in advanced economies multi-task, use a cell phone while driving, and work in open floor space offices where distractions are pervasive. There are increasing demands on our attention.

In fact, as the author points out, during the 20th century intelligence quotients (IQs) have increased. Many have argued that this increase is an artifact of the explosion in media and complexity over the last 100 years. Information now arrives in multiple modalities. We have television and radio and the Internet. We process information and news from around the world.

This explosion in media and the information delivered via these new modalities may have caused a rise in IQs. This is just one interesting point I learned from reading this book. The author also detailed some theories regarding the Stone Age brain and how its apparent reification into its current form about 40,000 years ago was designed over millions of years to deal with hunter-gatherer requirements. Scholars believe the social environment rarely made demands on processing social facts for more than 150 people. This is the Dunbar number - which is controversial - but is also probably the measure of the traditional clan structure that existed 40,000 years ago and for millions of years previously. Our social environment is now well in excess of such number. We now deal with an increasingly social environment - we come into contact with a great many people and process information related to an increasingly diverse and complex environment. The Stone Age brain may not have even met more than 150 people. We, today, see more people in one day, then the Stone Age man or woman met in a lifetime.

Our brains may have initially been limited to recall approximately seven items. This the author tells us is why the number seven is often a "sacred number." However, due to the plasticity of our brain, we can train to increase our memory, specifically our working memory.

Our working memory may last for seconds. It is what allows us to do complex calculations in our heads. This the author tells us can be trained. Although it can be difficult. The training must be intense (repetitive and over time and at the limits of our ability). The author tells us it is similar to weight lifting.

The book also discusses evolutionary psychology, attention deficit disorder, the different types of attention, the use of computer games to facilitate training our memory, simultaneous processing, distractions to attention, functional MRI (fMRI), a bit of discussion on Buddhist attentional/focused meditation, and also the concept of flow.

The book provides good summaries of some of the more important studies in cognitive neuroscience especially those that specifically relate to memory and attention.

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in studying the mind, cognitive neuroscience, and what we know about increasing our working memory and what type of training may work to increase our working memory. Our brain it appears is not just hardware. It also is software. It is plastic in the sense of plasticity. It can be changed by systematic application of training.

The Overflowing Brain discusses working memory.

Part of the book is spent defining what exactly the term "working memory" means. Basically it is very short term memory, for example, how many numbers a person could repeat back after hearing those numbers once.

After laying out a groundwork for defining/understanding the concept, each chapter goes into a new facet of working memory: attention deficit disorders, the drugs used to treat them, and what this tells us about how the brain works, different mental exercises and what parts of the brain these enlarge or reduce, the effect of computer games on the brain, and finally just the huge amount of information that exists and what this might imply given that our ancestors had far less of it to grapple with.

I found this book to be fascinating and each chapter to be a quick read. Each chapter had something interesting which sparked my curiosity. That said, someone could conceivably find the topic dry, and there are portions that talk about brain structure and chemistry from a more technical side. I thought the author did a good job of breaking this down, but even so I zoned out at times (rarely).

If the promotional material appeals to you, then I recommend this book. It was a quick read and had a consistent quality delivery.