Attention as the control system of the brain

Abstract

Attention is arguably the brain's highest control system, functioning as a filter on lower-level activations (those up to semantic level). It allows passage through its filter of activations for those stimuli or for motor responses of importance in solving tasks; at the same time attention represses distracters. The details of the control system involved, including an inverse model controller for the signal to move the focus of attention to a particular goal and a forward model to predict the attended state of the world, are discussed in the paper and their firm support from experimental data is described. The results of various simulations are then considered. Executive powers are shown to be able to be developed on the basis of such attention control. Finally an efference copy of the attention movement control signal is suggested as the control basis of consciousness, thereby giving consciousness an important function in the brain.

Keywords:

• Attention
• Control
• Perception
• Executive control
• Efference copy
• Consciousness