Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say you're more likely to scan a room, jumping from object to object as you search for something. In addition, the timing of these jumps appears to be determined by waves of activity in the brain that act as a clock.

Audio Transcript:

I Think I'm Having a "Where's Waldo" Moment.

I'm Bob Karson with the discovery files -- new advances in science and engineering from the National Science Foundation.

Looking for a friend in a crowded room? Are you likely to scan the room, moving from face to face? Or take in the whole scene, hoping your friend's face will pop out at you? If you said, "scan the room," neuroscientists at MIT would likely agree, based on a new study.

The researchers monitored brain activity of monkeys, who were given the task of finding a certain tilted colored bar on a computer screen filled with many colored bars. Rather than looking at the big picture, the monkeys shifted their attention in sequence -- like a moving spotlight that jumped from location to location.

The team found that the spotlight shifted focus 25 times a second and that the shifting was regulated by brain waves. It seems these waves may provide a clock that tells the brain when to shift attention from one stimulus to another. They might also keep different parts of the brain on the same page at the same time -- much the way computers use an internal clock to synchronize the different components inside.

The scientists say that if we could find ways to direct brain waves, it could be of immense help to patients with A.D.D., even speed up the cognitive powers of the brain.

Or help me find my keys.

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