Text written in Basque and translated automatically by Elia without any subsequent editing. SEE ORIGINAL

We can listen to two conversations at the same time

Have you ever wondered how some people have the ability to continue a conversation while listening to what they are saying on the other end of the room? A study clarifies that it is not only a matter of hearing, but also of another brain capacity.

In a recent study published in PLOS Biology, researchers at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, explained that the brain is able to start listening to another conversation for a second or a couple of seconds while keeping an eye on the previous conversation. This discovery calls into question the deep-rooted belief that we can focus on a single interlocutor.

For the study, the participants heard two people speaking at the same time, adding environmental noise. While the two interlocutors were asked to rotate their attention to see the brain’s response, the researchers measured brain activity using electroencephalograms.

The results showed that the brain begins to interact with the second interlocutor before it is completely disconnected from the first interlocutor. At that exact moment, the two conversations overlap and we can focus on both. According to the authors, some people are more likely to perform two tasks at the same time, which may be related to their ability to maintain two conversations.