Attentional Processing: The Brain's Art of Mindfulness

by David LaBerge

In the past two decades, the familiar experience of attention--the emphasis on a particular mental activity so that it "fills the mind"--has been subjected to much scientific inquiry. David LaBerge now provides a systematic view of the attention process as it occurs in everyday perception, thinking, and action. Drawing from a variety of research methods and findings from cognitive psychology, neurobiology, and computer science, he presents a masterful synthesis of what is understood about attentional processing. LaBerge explores how we are able to restrict the input of extraneous and confusing information, or prepare to process a future stimulus, in order to take effective action. As well as describing the pathways in the cortex presumed to be involved in attentional processing, he examines the hypothesis that two subcortical structures, the superior colliculus and the thalamus, contain circuit mechanisms that embody an algorithm of attention. In addition, he takes us through various ways of posing the problem, from an information-processing description of how attention works to a consideration of some of the cognitive and behavioral consequences of the brain's computations, such as desiring, judging, imaging, and remembering. Attentional Processing is a highly sophisticated integration of contributions from several fields of neuroscience. It brings together the latest efforts to solve the puzzle of how it works, how it is modulated, what its benefits are, and how it is expressed in the brain.

262 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Motoko]

My favorite neuroscience book. by my favorite professor. David LaBerge is a true pioneer in neuroscience, beginning with his work on designing and reading EEG's and on into the present with his LaBergian Theory of Attention, relating mostly to the role of cortical apical dendrites in human consciousness and attention. The LaBergian Theory of Attention, described in this book, opens up a whole new, and very coherent realm of study and possiblility, which should be of interest to anyone studying anything from neuroscience, to physics, and definately anyone studying theories of consciousness. David LaBerge presents possibly the most lucid, clear, and biologically sound new take on the human consciousness.