The Role of Attention in Consciousness and Brain Hemispheres

Attention shapes consciousness, revealing different perceptions based on how one engages their awareness.

### The Dual Nature of Attention: Understanding Consciousness and Brain Hemispheres
* 🧠 "Attention isn't elective cognition," highlighting its **fundamental role** in how we **engage with the world**.
* 🔍 The discovery of differing **attention mechanisms** in the brain's hemispheres was surprising, leading to a **deeper exploration** of the topic.
* 💡 Initially, attention was viewed as just another cognitive function, but the machine model falls short as **machines cannot attend like humans do**.
* 🌍 Consciousness is inherently directed towards something, and the manner in which we **focus our consciousness** shapes our **perception of reality**.
* 🧘 Meditative practices encourage a **broad awareness**, allowing one to experience a **fuller reality** without the interference of the "**monkey mind**."
* ⚖ An exercise that balances focused and broad attention can help equalize the activity between the **left and right hemispheres**, as one hemisphere cannot manage **both types simultaneously**.
* 📊 EEG studies indicate that engaging in meditation can **enhance right hemisphere function**, with anatomical changes observed in experienced practitioners.
* 🌌 The practice of **expanding consciousness** from a focused point to **encompass everything** illustrates the **dynamic nature of attention and awareness** in our lives.

I recall reading in your book that attention isn't elective cognition. Yes, I didn't go together to understand the importance of attention. When I first discovered that it was different in the two hemispheres, I thought, What? Gosh, that is interesting. And it would be. I thought, What? I wasn't even looking for it. I just happened to be very interested in attention at one point, so I read all the material I could. They clearly emerged that there was a difference in the way the two hemispheres attended, and from that, of course, many, many things followed. At the time, being rather used to the normals of a cognitivist way of thinking, I just thought of attention as another function of the brain. You know, this is the trouble with the machine model, actually, because a machine can't attend. A machine can be set a problem, but it can't dispose its attention because attention is the way in which you dispose your consciousness towards the world. Consciousness is always towards or of something. Consciousness cannot have a goal or a name or an object or a

concern. So, the way in which you dispose your consciousness towards the world is what we call attention. If I dispose my consciousness in a very narrow way, which breaks up the field of reality into small disks, which then appear to be fragments, which the brain then has to assemble in order to understand, then you see a different world from the world that you see. If the way you dispose your consciousness is maximally broad, rather as in certain kinds of meditative practice in which you try to just take in as much as possible of what you're getting all around you without forming any judgments upon it, in others not setting the talkative part of the mind, basically the left conscious cognition, not setting that going, and that in the Buddhist tradition is known as monkey mind because it's jabbering, it is all over the place, stealing that enables one to see more. What is also fascinating is that there is an exercise which I have done and which I like very much, which is to try to dispose your consciousness in a

highly focused way and a highly broadened and extended way at the same time. And of course, that would be, that is exactly why we have to have this. As you can't possibly do that with one hemisphere, because one arising center of consciousness can only dispose one way. That's why we have to, so that we can dispose them. Did assess. If you do, you feel that such an exercise might be a way of balancing the hemispheres. It is really, I mean, in terms of EEG electrophysiological record, it is a way in which one can correct the usual slight preponderance of left hemisphere over right and equalize it. And in many meditative practices, it particularly engages the right hemisphere. And the experienced meditators, there are findings, both functional findings about how the right hemisphere is functioning in such subjects, but also anatomical findings at certain areas of the right hemisphere that are particularly important for it become enlarged or thicker than they would otherwise be. So it certainly is a matter of engaging the

right hemisphere and also the left, the place of role. I remember doing a meditative exercise, and you know Aikido, actually many years ago. And you'd start off by centering just below the navel, right Dan Tien, I think the Chinese go in on a very small point, yeah, as you can imagine. And then bitbucket this appointment in large, right, and encompass you, and then encompass everything in the universe. And that, you know, see you go from one, yes, it's just expanding this out. So it may be made that was a similar thing you.

An Exercise to Balance Your Brain's Two Hemispheres

Dr Iain McGilchrist

Attention is not elective cognition and differs between the brain's two hemispheres.

It plays a crucial role in disposing consciousness towards the world, shaping our perception of reality.

The way we direct our attention, whether narrow or broad, can significantly impact our understanding and experience of the world around us.

The exercise of engaging both brain hemispheres is crucial for balancing consciousness and mental function.

EEG studies show that this practice can correct the left hemisphere's dominance and equalize its activity.

Meditative practices, which often engage the right hemisphere, have been found to cause functional and anatomical changes, leading to its enlargement or thickening in experienced meditators.

The Role of the Brain Hemispheres in Meditation

The speaker reflects on a meditative exercise they did years ago, focusing on centering just below the navel.

The practice involved starting from a small point and gradually expanding to encompass everything in the universe.

This expansion is seen as a parallel to the role of the brain's left and right hemispheres.