A recent study published in the journal Neuron has revealed a surprising limitation of human thought processing speed, with scientists quantifying an average rate of 10 bits per second. Despite having billions of neurons, humans are surprisingly constrained in their ability to process information.
The study examined scientific literature on human behaviors and applied knowledge of information theory to understand why our brains process thoughts at this slower pace than they could theoretically. Researchers found that individual neurons can process information much faster, but the brain limits thought processing speed.
This rate is significantly slower than our sensory system’s processing speed, which operates 100 million times faster. However, humans cannot have more than one concurrent thought going through their mind at any moment.
According to the study, this sluggish speed of thoughts evolved over time as it was sufficient for our ancestors to survive. The environment often changes at a leisurely pace, making the current rate of thought processing suitable for decision-making throughout history.
Furthermore, humans are not as skilled at multitasking as they think. Research shows that the brain rapidly switches between tasks rather than actively pursuing both simultaneously. Task-switching incurs an associated cost that slows us down and adds time to completion.
The findings have implications for technological concepts linking brains and computers. Knowing the limited rate of thought processing, implantable brain-computer interfaces may not necessarily accelerate communication speed.
Source: https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/when-it-comes-to-thinking-our-brains-are-surprisingly-slow