The Mind and The Brain; Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force
Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, Current Research at UCLA
"Without attention, the image (or sound, or feel-attention plays a role in every sense) does not register in the mind and may not be stored even briefly in memory."
"Images speed from the retina to the visual cortex in the brain. But then competition sets in. The winner is determined by the strength of
the stimulus...the novelty."
"Selectively focusing attention on target images significantly enhances neuronal responses to them."
"Neurons that respond to a target (the image attracting your attention) fire more strongly than neurons that respond to distractions."
"Attention must be captured. One cannot demand attention. One can demand obedience, but not attention. New learning requires attention."
"Novelty captures attention."
"Paying attention can do more than enhance the responses of selected neurons. It can also turn down the volume in competing regions."
While community members wait expectantly for their movie to begin, "Even before an object appears, attention has already stacked the neuronal deck, activating the visual cortex and, even more strongly, the frontal and parietal lobes...As a result, when the stimulus finally show up it evokes an even greater response in the visual cortex than if attention had not primed the brain."
"When you pay attention to something, the part of the brain that processes 'that something' becomes more active."
"Attention exerts real physical effects."
"Attention can sculpt brain activity by turning up or down the rate at which particular sets of synapses fire....firing a set of synapses again and again makes them grow stronger, it follows that attention is an important ingredient for neuroplasticity."
PET scans show that during trail and error experimenting, the brain is ablaze with activity. "In particular, the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, anterior cingulated, caudate, and cerebellum were very active; all are involved in planning, thinking and moving." ..... Effortless automaticity dramatically diminishes mental and cerebral activity."
