Understanding Attention

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Attention is key to unlocking the space between the conscious and subconscious.

The brain receives vastly more information than consciousness can process. Attention acts as a filter.

Attention has parts that are under volitional control and parts that are beyond our control.

“I am more forgetful these days. Is this normal for old age or am I getting dementia?“

This is one of the most common questions I get asked as a neurologist. There is no easy way to answer this question—it is our job to do a whole evaluation, a bit of detective work to figure this out, but in broad terms, there are two reasons we may not remember something. One is a true problem with encoding or storing memory. The other is an attention problem: the information never fully entered the system in the first place.

If you focus and try to remember, and still cannot remember, this may suggest a true memory problem.

But much of what people describe as "memory problems" are actually attention problems.

The word “attention” is used ubiquitously: “attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)," "pay attention,” or "our attention span is getting shorter in this era of social media." But in neuroscience, compared to a more concrete mental faculty like language, memory, motor control, or vision, how attention works is still not fully understood.

Having said that, “attention” may be the key to unlock the space between consciousness and the subconscious.........

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