Apr

2012

7:53pm, EDT

Talking to yourself may boost brainpower

By Charles Choi
LiveScience

Talking to yourself might not mean you are crazy — it can actually benefit thinking and perception, researchers say.

People often talk to themselves — most do so at least every few days, and many report doing so on an hourly basis, scientists have said. Although such muttering might seem irrational, past research has shown that self-directed speech can help guide children's behavior, with kids often taking themselves step-by-step through tasks such as tying their shoelaces, as if reminding themselves to focus on the job at hand.

To see if talking to oneself could also help adults, psychologists conducted experiments with volunteers who had to search for specific items. This work was inspired in part by the researcher's own self-talk. "I'll often mutter to myself when searching for something in the refrigerator or supermarket shelves," said researcher Gary Lupyan, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In one experiment, volunteers were shown 20 pictures of various objects and asked to look for a specific one, such as a banana. In half of the trials, participants were asked to repeatedly say what they were looking for out loud to themselves; in the others, they were asked to remain silent. The researchers found self-directed speech helped people find objects more quickly by about 50 to 100 milliseconds. (The average time it took participants to find an item was 1.2 to 2 seconds.)

"The general take-home point is that language is not just a system of communication, but I'm arguing it can augment perception, augment thinking," Lupyan told LiveScience. [10 Fun Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp]

In another experiment, volunteers carried out a virtual shopping task in which they saw photos of items commonly found on supermarket shelves and were asked to find all instances of a particular item, such as Jell-O, as quickly as possible. The results were more complex — there was an advantage to speaking the name of an item only when volunteers looked for familiar objects. For instance, saying "Coke" helped when looking for Coke, but saying the less familiar item "Speed Stick" when looking for Speed Stick deodorant actually slowed people down. (Speed stick isn't such a "universally" common item.)

"Speaking to yourself isn't always helpful — if you don't really know what an object looks like, saying its name can have no effect or actually slow you down," Lupyan said. "If, on the other hand, you know that bananas are yellow and have a particular shape, by saying banana, you're activating these visual properties in the brain to help you find them."

Future work can scan the brain at the same time as these experiments are conducted, to see what brain circuits are involved, Lupyan suggested.

Lupyan and his colleague Daniel Swingley detailed their findings online April 10 in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

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abby-1588585

I've been telling my husband for years that the only way to have an intelligent conversation in the house is for me to talk to myself. So now I can tell my husband it's official. I am boosting my brain power, not losing my mind. ;)

9 votes

#1 - Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:40 PM EDT

Billie-2352729

You are exactly right. You just make the most important point to being a woman. And women should talk more; just exercise the First Amendment right.

1 vote

#1.1 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:22 AM EDT

Zen609

abby - Did you consider that perhaps you just talk constantly, but that you don't consider it talking to yourself if your husband is within earshot?

I'm joking (mostly). Don't hate me! I love you, abby.

#1.2 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:59 AM EDT

Blake-2644321

I'm not too sure about this one... I have someone in my office that talks to their self all day long!!! Literally! They aren't crazy or nuts, but it sure makes me go crazy!!! I just want to scream out "SHUT-UP... ARGGG."

#1.3 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:47 AM EDT

Artsdotter

I find that I talk to myself for two reasons.If I hear out loud the same thing I am thinking then it reinforces the concept by having it repeated by a different perception; I am thinking it, I am saying it and I am hearing it Secondly , if I am thinking something through then saying what I am thinking out loud makes the whole process clearer and more obvious.

#2 - Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:36 PM EDT

andrefan

I just told my sister about this article and told her she should be the smartest person in the world, not only does she talk to herself but she can carry on a whole conversation with herself, and no she isn't crazy. She has done this for years and we always joke with her about it.

2 votes

#3 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:05 AM EDT

fatibel

I've always talked to myself - I'm the only one who gets my jokes. I even argue with myself from time to time, but when I start losing the arguments I'm gonna have to stop.

#3.1 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:46 AM EDT

Hira Athar

I agree to the fact that it helps boosting the mind powers :) i do the same thing almost all the time.

#4 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:52 AM EDT

MrKnowItAll-2964592

I carry on a conversation with myself constantly! Why not!? I am the smartest person that I know!

3 votes

#5 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:55 AM EDT

Billie-2352729

Or talking mind, less embrassingly thinking inside our mind.

#6 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:23 AM EDT

RTyp0

Great, a new excuse for women to talk even more! Ladies, just becuase you have vocal chords doesn't mean you have to utilize them with every waking breath.. ;)

#7 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:42 AM EDT

Wiz-3385151

you're looking at the downside. now they can talk to themselves and not to us.

1 vote

#7.1 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:25 AM EDT

fatibel

How would you know what you were doing wrong if we didn't tell you?

1 vote

#7.2 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:47 AM EDT

HappyPie

Amen, Fatibel!

#7.3 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:19 PM EDT

RTyp0

How would you know what you were doing wrong if we didn't tell you?

By "The look". I know I'm messing up without her saying a word.. :)

#7.4 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:41 PM EDT

JenniferRBG

glad to hear that. I thought i was simply becoming a raving lunatic talking to myself.

1 vote

#8 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:18 AM EDT

John Smith-332906

Not only do I talk to myself, but I answer my own questions!

2 votes

#9 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:49 AM EDT

FactOfTheMatter

I find talking to myself helps when troubleshooting a problem.

2 votes

#10 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:19 AM EDT

SamC

If you want your child to better learn their school work then have them talk or tell you about it. And better yet, if two children have them tell each other what they are supposed to be learning.

Hearing the words spoken at the same time that they are being read ...... creates additional memory "links" to the same "data" thus making it easier to "recall".

College students have been having such "cram" sessions right before a big "exam" for 100 years or more.

Psychologists are just slow about "figgerring things out".

1 vote

#11 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:41 AM EDT

Nick Higgins

i knew i wasnt crazy lol

#12 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:00 AM EDT

Robin Leevia Facebook

hell you aint. found this article that actually reassures me a bit

#12.1 - Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:22 PM EDT

TraTra-3833355

Those are the best conversations I have...

1 vote

#13 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:24 AM EDT

Agendazed

The other day myself and I got in a terrible argument and now we're not speaking. I feel so stupid!

1 vote

#14 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:29 AM EDT

Leatherneck918

LOL

#14.1 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:37 AM EDT

elduderino-747609

Julian Jaynes "The Bicameral Mind"....

#15 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:00 AM EDT

Selmers

Great! We're gonna have a bunch of brilliant crazy-people wandering around.

#16 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:06 AM EDT

HappyPie

The comments here are even better than the article! LOL

#17 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:07 PM EDT

Sylvia Santos5

Well, I liked the msnbc article about 'talking to yourself may boost your memory.LOL. It may not sound as the norm; but, come on, people, who has not talked to themselves at one point or another? And, I have talked to myself, and it has helped me to focus on th topic.

1 vote

#18 - Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:57 AM EDT

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Talking to yourself may boost brainpower

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