“Being under pressure alters how different areas of the
brain communicate. In a nutshell, the prefrontal cortex works less well and
decouples—or stops talking to---other brain areas that are important for
maximal cognitive horsepower. When a
particular brain area stops communicating with other areas, this can have dire
consequences for our thinking and memory capabilities.” Sian Beilock, Choke
Some people are more prone to worry, anxiety and self-doubt
than others. As if these vexing feelings of inadequacy and lack of competence
were not enough, the mental performance of these individuals is also negatively
impacted.
According to Sian Beilock, an expert on cognitive science at
the University of Chicago, a person suffering from worry will have diminished
cognitive function. Specifically, the working memory of the self-doubting
individual will be impaired, simply because they are perplexed with worry and
anxiety.
When a person is overcome daily by worry, fears of failure
and self-doubt (stressors to the brain) the prefrontal cortex of their brain is
less able to communicate with other regions of the brain when performing cognitive
tasks. It’s as if just the mere presence of worry shuts down the normally fluid
connections between the various portions of the brain and the individual ends
up with fewer mental reserves to draw from when performing intellectually
demanding tasks. The anxiety-riddled person is truly at a disadvantage.
Sian Beliock discusses a very interesting study. Generally
speaking, students with higher working
memory tend to be more prone to worry and anxiety during tests whereas
students with lower working memory
experience less anxiety and worry during tests
It isn’t clear why people who score higher on tests of
working memory are more prone to worry (especially during test-taking situations).
Could it be that individuals with higher working memory take
things more seriously, internalizing test scores as diagnostic of their ability,
which ends up creating an influx of worry? These students unwittingly create a
“do or die” situation in their brain and worry intensifies. Once worry and
self-doubt enter the brain, cognitive performance declines.
For those of us who are chronic worriers…self-doubters…it is
very crucial to make efforts to work through this. The book highlights the importance of
venting—verbally expressing how one feels or, even better, writing down how you
feel. You need to find a way to prevent
feelings of worry and inadequacy from entering. Because, once these feelings arise, they direct mental energy away from important cognitive
functions—like coming up with a creative idea, performing well on a test, or
playing a musical piece to perfection.
It is also a very good idea to avoid and actively ignore
negative, critical people if you are a worrier. After all, you already have to
deal with the harsh criticisms regularly generated by your own brain, you don’t
need additional help from other people.
What's the good news? According to Beilock, for those of us
continually plagued by worry, we are not performing at optimum cognitive
capacity and there is GREAT room for improvement. (However, if you are not a
worrier, you are probably already performing at your optimum cognitive
capacity.)
