Attention Control Is Highly Related To Brain Development- University Of São Paulo Study
For many, concentration boils down to the act of being focused entirely on a task, but what it represents for the brain and how to achieve it are still little commented on. “Paying attention is not a unique ability, it requires cognitive effort”, comments Professor Eliane Comoli, from the Department of Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto at USP. The concentration also varies greatly according to environmental factors, requiring an analysis from several points of view.
Brain development, according to Eliane, is related to attention control. With it, it is possible to carry out “voluntary attention”, which consists of focusing on an action in a conscious and free-choice manner. “It is the one that the student has when paying attention to the teacher who is explaining content in the classroom, even when there is interference from other students talking around. This type of attention is different from the tension triggered when sensory information is intense and sudden, like when you are reading a book and something falls to the floor producing an intense sound”, exemplifies the teacher.
External factors, whether sensory, as in the example, or of any other nature, impact the ability to maintain concentration. Professor André Russowsky Brunoni, from the USP Faculty of Medicine, comments on the environmental influence on the focus: “The first thing we always advise is to turn off competing stimuli. This is increasingly difficult, because we think it’s multi, but actually people aren’t: you can’t divide this working memory into four or five things at the same time, then, in the long run, this ends up generating a lower task performance.
flow state
As much as concentration and focus are two words that summarize the same “action”, there is a state of flow . It concerns a concentration characterized by intense immersion in the activity performed.
Establishing clear goals, rest intervals and staying away from distractions are some tips given to achieve such a state, but there is a complex mechanism in the organism responsible for this. “It is closely related to working memory, which is the ability to manipulate information coming from different regions of the brain. When we are going to concentrate on a task, we need to access our long-term memory, whose main function related to this is the hippocampus. We also need to activate some areas of verbal memory and visual memory and integrate all of this into this working memory”, explains Brunoni.
The teacher even makes an analogy, comparing working memory to a table where you take materials and tools, manipulating them according to the intention ― which, in this case, is concentration. This state still involves networks of neurons, the most important being the Central Executive Network , with a greater focus on task resolution, and the Default Mode Network , responsible for attention to the individual and, therefore, related to depression, stress and with a significant bodily influence.
practices
Knowing what concentration is and its presence also in the state of flow is important, but the most sought after is how to achieve them. Professor Eliane comments on meditation, which is one of many practices that help from achieving focus to maintaining it: “Meditation is a great example of a practice to intentionally focus on the present moment, paying full attention to sensations, thoughts and emotions that arise. Neuroscience defines meditation as a form of mental training that reduces stress and helps to improve psychological capacity and attentional and emotional self-regulation”.
She further adds that yoga and physical exercise, as well as meditation, promote mental and physical well-being. According to the professor, neuroscience points to the effect of these activities on neuromodulation, the increase in substances such as GABA, serotonin and dopamine which, respectively, neutralize anxiety symptoms, improve mood and regulate motivation. In addition, these practices generate an increase in the BDNF protein, which helps in the production of new brain cells and strengthens existing ones. “It is important to mention that sleep care is very important, since adequate sleep deprivation reduces attention, concentration and memory, affects the performance of cognitive activities and tasks that require creativity. Finally, the truth is that there is no magic way, it takes effort and self-discipline”, points out Eliane.