Why can't I concentrate?

Why can't I concentrate?

Author: BBC World Service August 14, 2026 Duration: 26:29

Why is it hard to concentrate, and why does it feel like such hard work? The CrowdScience inbox is full of questions like that, so for this show we’re concentrating on concentration and focusing on how we focus.

We’ll be answering questions about the extra energy the brain uses when we’re concentrating, whether mental effort can tire you out more than physical effort, why we zone out when faced with a difficult task and how the ability to multitask is governed by our overall cognitive load.

To find the answers, presenter Alex Lathbridge is paying attention to a team of experts. Psychology professor Sophie Leroy from the University of Washington in the USA studies the impact of being interrupted on our ability to perform, cognitive neuroscientist Professor Salvador Soto-Faraco from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain researches how sight, sound and touch are blended together by the brain, and psychology professor Polly Dalton runs the Attention Lab at Royal Holloway University in London, UK.

We’ll be trying to distract them with gossip about what we had for lunch, finding out why the brain is like a bike and, most importantly, discovering how you can concentrate better on shows exactly like this one.

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge

Producer: Tom Bonnett

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Woman with glasses thinking and pointing upward- stock photo - Credit: ismagilov via Getty Images)


Curiosity drives discovery, and CrowdScience from the BBC World Service is built entirely on that principle. Each episode begins not with a scripted lesson, but with a question sent in by a listener from anywhere in the world. These aren't simple queries with easy answers; they are the wonderfully complex, often quirky puzzles about everyday phenomena and cosmic mysteries that make us all stop and wonder. What does silence sound like? Could we ever photosynthesize like plants? How does a crowd's mood physically spread? The team then embarks on a genuine investigative journey, tracking down the specialists at the very edge of our understanding-neuroscientists, ecologists, physicists, and engineers-to piece together credible, compelling answers. Listening to this podcast feels like having a direct line to the labs and field sites where knowledge is being created. The conversations are deep yet accessible, transforming abstract concepts into relatable stories. It’s a collective exploration where listener curiosity sets the agenda, making each episode a unique and democratic look at the machinery of our world and beyond. You become part of a global community pondering life, Earth, and the universe, one thoughtful question at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

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