« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2020, 07:48:27 PM »
Do you suffer from anxiety? That might explain why you are smarter: anxiety may improve certain processes in the brain, and the brain may try to find cognitive tasks (distractions) that mask the anxiety.
See
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3345059/Can engaging in a cognitive task alleviate anxiety?
Several studies have shown that anxiety and threat-related activity in the brain and body can be down-regulated by the use of different cognitive strategies such as self-distraction, reappraisal, or working memory load (Dvorak-Bertsch, Curtin, Rubinstein, & Newman 2007; Kalisch et al., 2006; King et al., 2010; Pessoa et al., 2005). Specifically, this effect appears to have the greatest impact when the task involves high cognitive (King et al., 2010) or perceptual load (Doallo, Holguin, & Cadaveira, 2006). Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that therapeutic techniques based on this assumption (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)) are highly effective in reducing anxiety in patient populations (Chambless & Gillis, 1993). However, it is important to note that despite reductions some aspects of an anxiety-related response, amygdala activity has been shown to subsist even under high perceptual load, suggesting that a preparatory component of anxiety like defensive priming may still be active (Cornwell et al., 2011). Taken together, these findings suggest that when attentional demands are high, task performance takes precedence over anxiety-related cognitive processing. In parallel, preparatory mechanisms like increased vigilance may remain active to facilitate a rapid response to potential threat. Here, we sought to determine whether engaging in a working memory task can successfully relieve induced-anxiety, and if so, what level of cognitive load is most effective in reducing anxious responding (measured by performance impairment and startle magnitude).
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Male, INTJ. POIS symptoms: red eyes, ear-pain, anxiety, speech problems, pale/ugly skin, stiff neck, double chin, tinnitus, light sensitivity. POIS even after stimulation without O.
