Thus, habits of the mind may become, quite literally, structures of the brain.” (Healy, 2014) So, while research has shown that attention difficulties may be partly inherited, the brain’s chemical balance can also be changed by environmental factors.
“Like a sculptor, the child’s experience prunes away unneeded-or unused-synapses, while strengthening those patterns of connections that are repeatedly used. Neurotransmitters in the brain, primarily dopamine and norepinephrine, are thought to be involved in attentional functions.Īre there ways to increase attention skills? Further, through these techniques, it has been determined that paying attention requires maturation of numerous widely scattered brain areas-from the brain stem up to the prefrontal cortex. Through functional MRIs, neuroscientists can now examine enhanced firing of neurons during changes in focused attention. More recent findings have increasingly pointed to brain structures, functions, and processes in explaining attention. For example, research indicates that humans are biologically adapted to attend to and focus on emergency situations, novel objects, and rapid changes. It is thought that human adaptations historically have occurred to assure survival. Early research on attention looked to the function of attention skills for adaptation. Psychologists and neuroscientists have studied attention for well over a century. This type of stimulation leads children to seek progressively higher levels of sensory stimulation to the point that it becomes difficult for them to settle in to periods of quiet, reflective, focused study (Healy, 2014).Ī child’s ability to focus and sustain attention may greatly affect his or her ability to be successful both academically and socially.Īttention is a cognitive process in which individuals selectively concentrate on one thing, while screening out or ignoring other things. They have school, homework, lessons, and extracurricular activities, and they spend their “down time” in electronic stimulation (TV, social media, text messaging, video games, cell phones, etc.). Many children today rarely have the chance to experience having a quiet, self-directed mind, undistracted by demands or electronic stimulation.
0 kommentar(er)
