Cover Image: August 2006 Scientific American Magazine See Inside

Coming to Attention [Preview]

How the brain decides what to focus conscious attention on

By Andreas K. Engel, Stefan Debener and Cornelia Kranczioch














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As cognitive neuroscientists, we would like to know what is behind such phenomena: What happens in our brains when we deliberately concentrate on something? Does some mechanism inside our heads decide which information reaches our consciousness--and which does not? And do our intentions, needs and expectations influence what we perceive? Recent research offers some fascinating insights.

Homing in on Attention


This article was originally published with the title Coming to Attention.



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