Here's What Happens in the Brain When we are Bored

Boredom is something we all experience throughout our lives, which seem to be a mutual experience with animals, according to a new study.

A new study published in the journal Psychophysiology investigated what happens in the brain when we are bored, and how can this help us find ways of dealing with boredom?

For this reason, Sammy Perone, an assistant professor at Washington State University in Pullman and colleagues from Washington State University decided to conduct a study focusing on what boredom looks like in the brain.

The study also identified the best ways of coping with boredom so that it does not affect people’s mental health.

The research team recruited 54 young adults to participate in the study and asked the volunteers to fill in a survey about boredom patterns and how they reacted to feeling bored.

The study has shown that boredom is useful because this state helps to increase creativity.

To begin with, the research team believed there was a "hardwiring" difference in the brains of people who react negatively to boredom compared to those inpiduals who are not affected.

However, initial tests, which used electroencephalogram (EEG) caps to measure participants' brain activity, proved them wrong: the results showed that there was no difference in terms of brain hardwiring.

Perone explained that the research team was not able to differentiate the brain waves of the inpiduals affected when bored with those who are not.

The research team reported in the paper that the results of previous research they conducted showed that the inpiduals who are often bored are also more prone to poor mental health, especially to conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Clues have already emerged after the volunteers in the study revealed how they dealt with boredom.

The results showed that proactive thinking could be a good way of coping with boredom.