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Attention acts as a gatekeeper for conscious awareness and cognitive functioning from "summary" of The Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness by Stanislas Dehaene
Attention serves a crucial role in determining what information enters conscious awareness. It filters sensory input, allowing only a select portion to rise to the level of consciousness while depriving others of this access. This selective process is vital for efficient cognitive functioning, as the brain is bombarded with a vast amount of stimuli at any given moment. The mechanisms of attention can be understood through a framework where neural circuits prioritize certain inputs based on relevance and significance. For instance, salient stimuli—those that are novel, threatening, or emotionally charged—tend to capture attention more readily. This prioritization ensures that critical information is processed more thoroughly, enabling adaptive responses to the envi...
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