Eli5: what happens in your brain when you try to read a simple sentence but you’re unable to understand in the first few attempts?

Question

Eli5: what happens in your brain when you try to read a simple sentence but you’re unable to understand in the first few attempts?

In: 27

Answer 1

Your eyes are looking at it but you’re not actually reading. Reading requires attention and you can only pay attention to one thing at a time to commit that thing into your working memory. So if you’re distracted, you can move your eyes over the words but not actually bring it into your memory.