Thai Minds Learn to Filter Noise: New Research Shows How Repetition Trains the Brain to Ignore Distractions
Bangkok’s morning chaos can overwhelm even the most focused student or office worker. Yet new international findings suggest our brains can learn, through repeated exposure, to filter out distractions. A collaboration between Leipzig University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam shows that neural circuits can be trained to ignore recurring disruptions, a discovery with direct relevance for Thai classrooms, workplaces, and daily life in busy urban spaces.
Researchers used EEG to track brain activity as volunteers searched for subtle targets while a distracting red shape repeatedly appeared in the same spot of the visual field. Over time, participants not only improved target detection but also showed changes in early brain responses to the distraction. Dr. Norman Forschack explains that “learning alters the early processing of these stimuli,” indicating a neural adaptation that reduces the impact of familiar distractions.