The ol' "can't walk, talk and chew gum at the same time" adage seems to have a basis in reality". I found this article earlier today:
" For those who find it tough to juggle more than a couple things " at once, don't despair. The brain is set up to manage two tasks, " but not more, a new study suggests. " " That's because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain " known as the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) divides so that half " of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other " task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track of two " tasks pretty readily, but if you throw in a third, things get a " bit muddled. " " "What really the results show is that we can readily divide " tasking. We can cook, and at the same time talk on the phone, and " switch back and forth between these two activities," said study " researcher Etienne Koechlin of the Université Pierre et Marie " Curie in Paris, France. "However, we cannot multitask with more " than two tasks." " " The results will be published this week in the journal Science. " [...] " Essentially, the brain behaved "as if each frontal lobe was " pursuing its own goal," Koechlin said. " [...] " subjects perform as if they systematically forget one of the " three tasks," Koechlin told LiveScience.
Full article here: