What is attention?

Krauzlis, Richard J.; Wang, Lupeng; Yu, Gongchen; Katz, Leor N.

doi:10.1002/wcs.1570

Cited by 25 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Our analysis suggests that attention is not selection for further detailed processing, but rather it is selection of a target for behavior. This notion agrees with the growing body of literature that highlights attention as a process sub-serving adaptive behavior ( van der Heijden and Bem, 1997b ; Krauzlis et al, 2014 , 2021 ; Eckstein, 2017 ). We believe this shift in thought can be reconciled with what we observe about attention and, in addition, settle some of the conceptual difficulties of the LBRV.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The EVA, therefore, goes beyond many current views of attention by asserting that no physical tradeoffs are driving attention. It is in line with hypotheses that see attention as posed by the need to make accurate decisions for goal-directed behaviors with noisy sensory channels, such as the decision integration theory ( Shaw, 1982 ), selection for goals proposition ( Van Der Heijden and Bem, 1997a ), attention for probabilistic computations ( Eckstein, 2017 ) and the more recently published viewpoint about attention as an outcome of value-based decision making ( Krauzlis et al, 2014 , 2021 ). The EVA suggested here converges with these ideas from an evolutionary perspective.…”

Section: The Ancient Competition For Orientation and The Ecological V...supporting

confidence: 82%

“…The development of the LBRV is rooted to a large extent in human psychology ( Treisman, 1964 ; Broadbent, 1965 ). Evolutionary and comparative considerations can lead to different insights ( Krauzlis et al, 2018 , 2021 ). Following are three evolutionary arguments that question the main notions of the LBRV.…”

Section: Evolutionary Considerations Do Not Support the Limited Brain...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Ecological View of Selective Attention

Lev-Ari

Beeri

Gutfreund

2022

Front. Integr. Neurosci.

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Accumulating evidence is supporting the hypothesis that our selective attention is a manifestation of mechanisms that evolved early in evolution and are shared by many organisms from different taxa. This surge of new data calls for the re-examination of our notions about attention, which have been dominated mostly by human psychology. Here, we present an hypothesis that challenges, based on evolutionary grounds, a common view of attention as a means to manage limited brain resources. We begin by arguing that evolutionary considerations do not favor the basic proposition of the limited brain resources view of attention, namely, that the capacity of the sensory organs to provide information exceeds the capacity of the brain to process this information. Moreover, physiological studies in animals and humans show that mechanisms of selective attention are highly demanding of brain resources, making it paradoxical to see attention as a means to release brain resources. Next, we build on the above arguments to address the question why attention evolved in evolution. We hypothesize that, to a certain extent, limiting sensory processing is adaptive irrespective of brain capacity. We call this hypothesis the ecological view of attention (EVA) because it is centered on interactions of an animal with its environment rather than on internal brain resources. In its essence is the notion that inherently noisy and degraded sensory inputs serve the animal’s adaptive, dynamic interactions with its environment. Attention primarily functions to resolve behavioral conflicts and false distractions. Hence, we evolved to focus on a particular target at the expense of others, not because of internal limitations, but to ensure that behavior is properly oriented and committed to its goals. Here, we expand on this notion and review evidence supporting it. We show how common results in human psychophysics and physiology can be reconciled with an EVA and discuss possible implications of the notion for interpreting current results and guiding future research.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: The Ancient Competition For Orientation and The Ecological V...supporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Evolutionary Considerations Do Not Support the Limited Brain...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Ecological View of Selective Attention

Lev-Ari

Beeri

Gutfreund

2022

Front. Integr. Neurosci.

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“…Attention refers to the collection of adapted brain functions that enable effective and adaptive behavioral selection (107). According to the BOLD-fMRI research, compensatory mechanisms exist to help attention and focus and inhibit extraneous mental processes induced by sleep deprivation, which may mitigate some of their adverse effects and add flexibility in tasks that deserve attention and vigilance (108)(109)(110).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-restricted feeding and cognitive function in sedentary and physically active elderly individuals: Ramadan diurnal intermittent fasting as a model

et al. 2022

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ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the effects of Ramadan diurnal intermittent fasting (RDIF) on cognitive performance, sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and insomnia in physically active and sedentary elderly individuals.MethodsA total of 58 participants (62.93 ± 3.99 years) were assigned to one of the following two groups: a sedentary group (control group) who observed Ramadan (n = 32) and a physically active group (n = 26) who continued to train while observing Ramadan. Participants were assessed 2 weeks before Ramadan and during the fourth week of Ramadan. On each occasion, participants completed a digital assessment of their cognitive performance and responded to the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), the insomnia severity index (ISI) and the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) questionnaires to assess sleep parameters.ResultsCompared to before Ramadan, performance in executive function (p = 0.035), attention (p = 0.005), inhibition (p = 0.02), associative memory (p = 0.041), and recognition memory (p = 0.025) increased significantly during Ramadan in the physically active group. For the sedentary group, associative learning performance decreased (p = 0.041), whilst performances in the remaining domains remained unchanged during Ramadan. Global PSQI, ISI, and ESS scores indicated both groups suffered from poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness, with significantly higher negative effects of RDIF observed in the sedentary group.ConclusionOlder adults who continue to train at least three times per week during Ramadan may improve their cognitive performance, despite the impairment of sleep quality. Future studies in older adults during Ramadan including objective measures of sleep (e.g., polysomnography, actigraphy) and brain function (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging) are warranted.

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“…Moreover, what about the many mountains of experimental data on visual attention? There are several sources where one can look for these and many others were mentioned earlier ([ 18 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ], and on the computational side [ 3 , 31 , 32 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ], as well as the excellent coverage by others, such as [ 4 , 29 , 57 , 58 ] and more).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When We Study the Ability to Attend, What Exactly Are We Trying to Understand?

Tsotsos

2022

J. Imaging

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When we study the human ability to attend, what exactly do we seek to understand? It is not clear what the answer might be to this question. There is still so much to know, while acknowledging the tremendous progress of past decades of research. It is as if each new study adds a tile to the mosaic that, when viewed from a distance, we hope will reveal the big picture of attention. However, there is no map as to how each tile might be placed nor any guide as to what the overall picture might be. It is like digging up bits of mosaic tile at an ancient archeological site with no key as to where to look and then not only having to decide which picture it belongs to but also where exactly in that puzzle it should be placed. I argue that, although the unearthing of puzzle pieces is very important, so is their placement, but this seems much less emphasized. We have mostly unearthed a treasure trove of puzzle pieces but they are all waiting for cleaning and reassembly. It is an activity that is scientifically far riskier, but with great risk comes a greater reward. Here, I will look into two areas of broad agreement, specifically regarding visual attention, and dig deeper into their more nuanced meanings, in the hope of sketching a starting point for the guide to the attention mosaic. The goal is to situate visual attention as a purely computational problem and not as a data explanation task; it may become easier to place the puzzle pieces once you understand why they exist in the first place.

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What is attention?

Cited by 25 publications

References 14 publications

The Ecological View of Selective Attention

The Ecological View of Selective Attention

Time-restricted feeding and cognitive function in sedentary and physically active elderly individuals: Ramadan diurnal intermittent fasting as a model

When We Study the Ability to Attend, What Exactly Are We Trying to Understand?

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