concentrate

After staying up all night, Mia found it difficult to concentrate or keep her attention on what the teacher was saying in English class. Mia couldn’t concentrate, so she didn’t remember all the details about an assigned project. During lunch, she had a good meal and a short nap to clear her mind so she could concentrate on—or listen carefully to—the history lesson. That night she went to bed early so she could concentrate better the next day; sleep is so important when you need to be able to think well!

Quiz: Try again! What are you doing if you are concentrating on something?

• You are thinking very hard about it and not much about anything else.
• You are trying to ignore it since it would require way too much thought from you.
• You are spending only a small amount of time on it because it doesn’t require much of your focus.

• Teachers might want to think twice about posting no gum-chewing signs in the classroom. It turns out that the sticky substance might help students concentrate. — Scientific American
• That can have long-lasting effects, including memory loss - or what’s called “brain fog.” “It involves confusion, [an] inability to concentrate, [and] slowing of thinking,” said Dr. Edward Taub, also a professor at UAB. — WBRC