Cultivating attention

In 2011, Jean-Philippe Lachaux, Director of Research in the "Dynamique cérébrale et cognition" team at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, published a book entitled Le cerveau attentif - Contrôle, maîtrise et lâchez-prise (The Attentive Brain - Control, Mastery and Letting Go) with Editions Odile Jacob. This book was the first synthesis available in French of advances in cognitive neuroscience on the phenomenon of attention, which we all too often tend to relate to a "simple" question of willpower, i.e. a psychological phenomenon.

Two types of attention

But attention does have a neurolobiological basis. J. P. Lachaux tells us that we need to distinguish between two processes that generate attention:

• A very rapid automatic process
  
  This enables us to react immediately to stimuli in our environment, by evaluating the importance of a piece of information, largely unconsciously. This automatic process builds up over time and is calibrated to our reward circuitry. It's thanks to this process that we unthinkingly go for what's best for us: for example, that we automatically head for the shortest queue at a checkout, or that the smell of chocolate makes us slow down in front of a certain store...
  
  But it's also thanks to this process that we back away from a speeding car, even when we're lost in thought. The cognitive operations conditioning these behaviors are carried out in a matter of nanoseconds. Thanks to these hyper-rapid data evaluations, we make over 6,000 decisions a day, most of which, fortunately for us, are unconscious! The seat of the automatic attention process is at the back of the brain.
  
  
• A conscious process of attention, called the executive system
  
  This is what we call "attention" in the strict sense, the ability we have to filter information and control our behavior according to the micro-goals we assign ourselves. The executive system memorizes our associations and stabilizes our attention by triggering the activation of certain neurons. For example, when we engage in reading an important article for our work, rather than trolling Facebook, we activate our executive system, located more at the front of the brain. The executive system works slowly, making decisions in a third of a second on average.
  
  But, alas, the executive system is not without its faults. On the one hand, elements such as stress or fatigue weaken it; we then let ourselves be guided by the reward system and function more in automatic mode.
  
  On the other hand, the executive system must constantly establish a hierarchy between our different objectives: finish reading the article, go for a drink of water, look at Marie-Louise's vacation photos on Facebook, decide what outfit to wear the next day, etc. For our attention to focus on a task, then, the process of choice has to become conscious, and we ourselves have to establish a hierarchy and set ourselves micro-goals.

So, multitasking after all?

These two distinct ways of functioning explain why multitasking can be considered a calamity or, on the contrary, an achievement.

• Bad multitasking", explains Jean-Philippe Lachaux, consists in putting ourselves on autopilot and letting ourselves be carried along from one reward to another, so to speak. In an enriched environment such as ours, in which technological objects constantly bring within our reach a host of experiences linked to the reward circuit, the cognitive conflict between the executive system and the automatic process is particularly strong.
  
  
• Good multitasking is based on task analysis: we identify the level of attention required to carry out a given task, and do something else in the "white spaces" - the moments when the task runs itself, so to speak. The simplest example is preparing a meal. While vegetables are being chopped with a sharp knife, it's risky to be simultaneously engaged in another task. But when the dish is simmering on the stove set to the right temperature, it would be foolish to remain focused on the height of the flame, and you can then get on with something else.

Of course, some tasks require a higher level of attention than others. This level differs in part from one person to another. The brain constructs "salience maps", giving greater importance to what is new or associated with risk, and less to what has become routine.

But the economy of attention is not entirely conditioned by experience. Some tasks require special attention, for everyone. Such is the case with imagination. This neural activity is particularly high, and highly irregular: sustained, constant attention is not an easy exercise for our brains.

Don't demand as much attention from a child as from an adult

What's more, we're not all equal when it comes to attention. The main inequality lies between children and adults. The brain evolves with age. When they're very young, children find it hard to channel their attention, because their executive systems are not yet mature. Attention is therefore not just a matter of willpower, but also of neurobiological maturity.

And it would be an illusion to think that, as adults, we have total control over our attention. We can't tame it, but we can tame it," says Jean-Philippe Lachaux. To do this, we need to better understand what's going on in our brains, before we can learn to protect ourselves from distraction, and gradually increase our attention span.

Tame your attention

• With this in mind, training yourself to set micro-objectives (within 5 or 10 minutes) can be quite productive. This involves breaking down the task into units that can be completed within the allotted time: read a page, write two sentences, learn 5 irregular verbs... once the objective has been reached, don't forget to reward yourself before moving on to the next stage.
  
  
• Another way to train is through meditation: focus your attention on one element (your breathing, reading, etc.) and then spot the moment when your mind starts to wander. At this point, pause, identify what you were thinking about, then refocus your attention on the first element, and so on.
  
  
• When possible, it's also a good idea to work on attention in pairs. In the classroom, for example, you can have one child carry out a task, then the other, with the child who doesn't carry out the task checking the quality of the other's work.

Again, neurologically speaking, children do not have the same attention span as adults. For them, even more than for us, it's essential to create an environment that makes it easier to focus attention, especially in the classroom. This means frequent changes of activity, alternating routine activities with activities that demand a great deal of attention, and spreading learning over 5 or 6 days of the week, according to Vania Herbillon, a psychologist and neuropsychologist who spoke on a France Culture program devoted to attention.

The brain is a terribly complex organ, neurobiologists remind us; it doesn't function on a "one cause - one effect" basis. On the contrary, multiple zones are mobilized for the slightest operation. We now have a better understanding of the mechanisms that control our attention span. It's up to us to make the most of them, and not ask the impossible of them.

References :

France Culture. "Is our attention controllable? Science publique. May 27, 2011. http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-science-publique-10-11-notre-attention-est-elle-maitrisable-2011-05-27.

Lachaux, Jean-Philippe. "Le Cerveau attentif." Odile Jacob Ed.,2011.
https://www.decitre.fr/livres/le-cerveau-attentif-9782738129277.html

School Freedom Blog. "L'attention, c'est dans la tête. Mais qu'en disent les neurosciences?" September 4, 2011. https://www.fondationpourlecole.org/blog/lattention-cest-dans-la-tete-mais-quen-disent-les-neurosciences/

UniversciencesTV. "The reward circuit." YouTube. March 12, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IBnn0MV4Z4.

Illustration: Gow27, Shutterstock.com