EUGENE, Ore., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say some people may be more susceptible to irrelevant stimuli than others.
The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, said the finding may help lead to therapies to help those easily distracted to focus better.
Principal study investigator Edward Vogel of the University of Oregon suspects people who are good at staying on focus have a good gatekeeper -- similar to a bouncer hired to allow only approved people into concert.
"Often, to be able to complete complex and important goal-directed behavior, we need to be able to ignore salient but irrelevant things, such as advertisements flashing around an article you are trying to read on a computer screen," Vogel says in a statement.
The researchers fount the 84 students whose brain activity was being monitored using electroencephalography quickly and accurately identified targets when objects moved around the screen. However, as distracting components were added, some maintained accuracy while others diverted their attention.
