Brain Games Reveal Clues on How the Mind Works

The Supersized Science podcast features research and discoveries nationwide enabled by advanced computing technology and expertise at the Texas Advanced Computing Center of the University of Texas at Austin. Jorge Salazar, a science writer at TACC, hosts the podcast. Scientists are using TACC’s Maverick2 supercomputer and data from the game Ebb and Flow by Lumosity to train deep learning models that mimic the human behavior of “task-switching,” shifting attention from one task to another. This basic research is important for helping scientists understand cognitive control, which encompasses the basic mental processes that allow one to focus on the task at hand, but also flexibly disengage from the task if the need arises. These abilities are taxed by the game Ebb and Flow that the researchers studied. The research may also inform the understanding of diseases in which patients exhibit deficits in cognitive control, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A study that developed new and more realistic models of task-switching was published in Nature Human Behaviour in January 2023. On the podcast to discuss the findings is Paul Jaffe, a postdoctoral fellow working with Professor Russell Poldrack in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. Supersized Science is part of the Texas Podcast Network – the conversations changing the world – brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. Story Link: https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/latest-news/2023/04/24/brain-games-reveal-clues-on-how-the-mind-works/ Music Credit: Raro Bueno, Chuzausen freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen/