A versionof this manuscriptwas publishedin "Attentionto Attention"in AppliedNeurophysiologyand

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ATTENTIONTO ATTENTION
LcstcrG. Iichrni

ABSTRACT
'l'o
rcalizelully our hunranpotcntialis to lcarnto bc arvarcol. to chooscllcxibly.and to
irnplcmcntclibrtlcsslyan cxpanding. dynamicrangcof attcntionalstylcstor thc optirnurrr
allocationof our rcsourccs.
A lundarncntal obscrvation is prescntcd in this papcr: Attentionalstylcsand brainwave
a c t i v i t ya r cr c l l c c t e di n e a c ho t h c r .A t t c n t i o ns t y l c sa r cd c l l n e d .A t t c n t i o nb i a s c sa r cd c s c r i b c d
a n dt h c i ri m p a c o t n p h y s i o l o g y ' a nedx p e r i c n cics s u g g c s t c dO. p t i m u ma t t e n t i o sn t y l c
'l'alk
corlbinatit)ns are suggcstcd.Rcscarch dataarepresented. thcrapyand attcntiontraining
atrccclntrastcd. llor.l'wcr-rsc stvlcsol'attcnlionlo nranallcour cxpcricnccis discusscd.An
umbrcllaidcntityis rccomrrrcnded as a portalto llcxiblcattcntiorr.A neuralnrcchanisrllilr
'l'he
separation and intcgrationo1'aw'areness. attentionandthcir contentsis proposed. potential
benel'its lbr exploringand practicingattcntionstylcsandOl'[:N IjOCI.JS aredcscribcd.

INTRODIICTION

l'horcauwrotc " I'lringsdon'tchange.w'cchangc."lt is rny contcntionthatthc rnost

i r n p o r t a nats p c cot l ' t h i sc h a n g ei s i n t h c " w a y " w ' ep a ) ' a t t e n t i o nI .t i s i r n p o r t a nt o
l vicw
hurlankindas a speciesw'iththc latentpotentialto witnessandquicklychoosea prel'erred style
'l'hus.
ol'attcntion.ll'or-n a rangco1-possiblc stylcs.in any circumstancc. wc ntaycoltsciously
lcarnto scll--rcgulatc our ow'nphysiology.pcrccptionol'cxpcricnccand pcrlrlrntaltcc.
['.pictctus saidit best""lt is not w'hathappcnsto you. lruthow'vourelateto what happe ns
thatmatters."I;eu'o1'useverlully rcalizeour potentialto governthe proccsso1'attention by
which wc rclateto our cxperiencc ol'theworld.in andaroundus. We aregencrallyunawarcol'
thc wide rangeof possiblcstylcso1'rclating. stylesof attcntionandof thc link bctwccnaltcntion
and experience. physiologyandconsequent behavior.Attentionalstylesandthcir scquelae are
sinrplynot obviousto r-nost ol'us bccauscol'our acculturatcd habits.llxationsand biascso1-
a t t c n t i o n I. n a d d i t i o na. w a r c n e sosl ' t h ec l i n i c a cl l l i c a c yo l ' n e u m l ' c c d b aacska n r c u l ntso : l c c e s s
attentional optionsand to implernent choicesis not widelydisseminated.
Neverthcless. theseattentional behaviors arc lundamental to w'hatmakesus human. Our
awareness o1'attentional stylcs.attentional options"appropriatc attentional deployntent and.
whennccessary. attcntionalstability.canall be enhanced il'ith biofbcdback andotherfbrmsof
'l'hese
training. mostbasico1'human skillsand relatedmattersarethe centralconcernol'this
s u l n l l r a royl ' r n y w o r k .
 I was askcdto write a summaryarticleaboutm,vexpclicnccas a rcscarchcr and provider
o1'biol-eedback. neurof'eedback andOpenFocustrainingin a clinicalsetting..My experience in
thesemattersspansthirty yearsbeginningil'ith the findingsof'my doctoraldissertationand
continuingwith rlany continningexperiments andclinicalobscrvations. My rnostconstant
motivationover the ycarshasbccnthc rcalization of personalchangcas a rcsultof my own use
ol'neurofbedback and the satist'action in witnessingsirnilarpositivechangesin my clientsand
othcrs.
Dr-rring l9(r3to l9(r(r.I undcrtooka studynl'visualirrlirrrnation pnrccssing in nronkcys(l).
Bccausconly a relativelyl-ew'milliscconds of visuall-v-evoked response was ncccssary tbr
corrcctbehavioralresponse. I concludedthatthc ncuralcodclbr visualshapeinlbrmationis
b a s e du p o r r s p a t i aol r p a r a l l epl r o c e s s i nogl ' n e u r o n aalc t i v i t yn. o t t c m p u r apl r o c e s s i n(gc l ' 2 ) . l n
thc l-cwmilliscconds ot'visualinlormationrcprcscntcd in thc leadingedgcol'thc visualcvokcd
response thercwas too little time lirr an,vtemporalcodeto containsufllcientinfirrnration to
rcllcctthc complcxityol'possiblcvisualfbrrrrs.Parallclproccssing takcsthc lbrrnol-packcts or
wavcsol'actionpotcntialstravclingtogcthcrin tinrc"in synchnrnv.ll'onrtlrc rctinaol-thc cyc.
alongspecificparallclncuronsof the opticnerveandtract.throughvisualrelal'nucleito thc
rrcocortcx o1'thebrain. lior this typc ol'parallclproccssing codc.synchronyol-ncuralactivity.
i . c . .a l m o s ts i n r u l t a n c o ua sc t i o rpr o t c n t i a lisn p a r a l l cnl e u r o n si .s a r t c c c s s a cr yo n d i t i o tlto r
rcliable inlbrmationtransmission throughthevisualsystcrn. and ultimatelylor recognitiott.
'l'his
visualinlbrmationproccssing rcscarch was completed at thc BrainResearch Institutcat
t J ( ' l . n a n dw a sp u b l i s h c d i n c o l l a b o r a t i owni t h . l o c lA d k i n sa n dl ) o n a l dt ] . L i n d s l c yu. p i o n c c r
i n c l c c t r o c n c c p h a l o g r a(pchl -yi . 4 . 5 ) .
'l'hese
research observations ignitedmf intcrcstin thc possibilityof increasing thc
synchronyol'brainwavc activitl'asa meanso1'enhancing thegcncralsubtlety.clarity"spccdand
scopcol'inlirrnration proccssing andpcrccptionin hunrans.Alphaw'avcactivityrcprcscnts thc
n-xrst pror.nincnt cxpression ol'synchronyin thc w'akingbrain. At an carlicrsocialgathcring.
circa lc)60..loeKarniyadcscribed his research which indicatedthatsonrepeoplecould
d i s t i n g u i sthh eo c c u r r e n cocl . a n dc v c nc o n t r o l l.o c a la l p h aw a v ca c t i v i t yi n t h ei r o w r tb r a i n s( c l '
7). At thattirnc.I rccallwondcringwhy a nraturcrcsearchcr would wantto conccnrliimsell-with
suchmattcrs.Little did I knor.l'then that I u'ouldsoonspendalmostthreedecades o1'my
p r o l . : s s i o naanl dp c r s o n al li l e r c s c a r c h i nagn dt r a i n i n gm y s c l l ' a n d r t a n n c(rc l -
c l i e n t si n a s i r n i l a n
6. [i- I (r).
In lc)6T.asanewAssistantl'rot'esP s os ryocfh o l o g y ' a t t h c S t a t e t J n i v e r s i t y o l ' N c w Y o r k
at StonyBrook.I entbarkcdupona seriesol'experiments concerning the enhancetncnt ol'brain
wavc slrnchrony in humans.by trainingnry'scl1. Learningalphawavc controlwas vcry dilllcult
for rnc. Aftcr 12.tu,o-hourunsllcccssful trainingscssions. I gar,'cup and surrcndcrcd my will to
ellbrt lully produceincreased alphaactivity. At the momcntol'surrender I cxpericnced a deep
and prolbund lceling of'disappointr.ncnt. Irortunately. Isurrcttdcrcd whilc still connccted to rrry
lr[:(] and whilc still receivingleedback.lt w'assurprisingto observethat I rtow'procluced livc
timesthe amountof alphathanbefbrethe actof surrendering. I was producingmorealpliathan
bclorc.evenwhilc I was still l'eelingdisappointed! Alier repeated and lailede1Ibr1s at tryingtcr
"givc-up"ntoreconlpletell'.I spontancously'lct go ol'my attentional grip on achicvingthe goal
and surrendered morefr.rll-v "into" the process.Accordingly'" evengreaterwholc brain(fivc
channel)arnplitude and inter-lobesynchronvw'asproduced.
 -['hese
increases in alphasynchronywcrc accompanied b1'niany'releases and positive
changesin personalexperience. perception andbehavior.In thc carlydaysofproducing
increasedalphawaves.I begannoticingunbiddenchanges.I f'eltmoreopen.lighter.fieer. more
energetic and spontaneous. I f-eltlessurgcncy.graspcdthingsmoreeasilyandexperienced more
verbalfluidity. A broaderperspective ensuedwhich allowcdmc to cxpcricncca nrorcwholc and
subtleunderstanding. As the lettinggo unfblded.I f'eltmoreintimatewith sensoryexperience.
morc intuitivc.and moreemotionallycxprcssivc thanmy prcviousovcr-controllcd and scicntillc
posturingallowcd. My intcrpcrsonal stylccliangcdand bccanrclightcrso thatpcoplcot'various
agesseemedmoreinclinedto gravitatctoward.andevenbe pla1,ful. with rne. My relationship
with rny childrcnbccamcsolierandmorepersonal. At tinresI literallylblt as il'l werc moving.
-l'hcsc
walking-glidingmorccllbrtlessly'than cvcr bctbrc. cxpcricnccs \ crc uncxpcctcd and
occurredwithoutdarnaging. but rather. enhancing m1'ability'totcachthc Ahard-noscdG
physiological psychologycoursesandneurophysiological tecliniques laboratorycoursesthatnry
positionat the [.lniversity dernanded.My chronicrheurlatoidarthritis.which liad peakcdin
scvcrityin graduatcschool.disappcarcd and I lclt gcncrallylicalthicr.lt was impossiblclilr nrc
to dcny that I was cxpcricncingsornething ver)'signilicantand personally revolutionary. both in
a physiological andexperiential scnsc.
I)crhaps tlrc rnostinrportantlongtcrnrcl'lectol'trainingw'ars that I cxperienced
signilicantlylesstension.heavincss. seriousncss and strcssthanI hadprior to havingincrcascd
'l'he
my arnbientlevelof multi-lobealphasy'nchrony.I laugheda lot morethanbelbre. mystery
to mc was that I had not krrownthattcnsionwas presentbelore it vuasrelcascd.Why didn'tI
k n o w o l ' t h i st c n s i o nl r c l i r r ci t l c t g o ' / I l o w ' m u c hr n o r ct c r r s i o ins s t i l l p r c s c ntth a tI d o n o t k n o w
about'l Why did tcnsionlcvclsoccuror accumulatc'lTo whatdcgrcccan I cvcr trustn'rv
personalexperience to accurately rel)ectrnv tensionlevel.or to rcllectany otlierl'ccling.or
crnotionor any othcrdisplacenrctrt ll'ornhorncostasis. l}onrzerosystcrnlrias. Sinccrny pcrsonal
e x p c r i e n coe1 ' t e n s i odno e sn o t a c c u r a t e l y ' a n d p r e c i s c l rye l ) c c p
t h y s i c asl y s t c ms t a t u sc"x c c p ta t
extremelevels.do attentionstrategies existw'hichcouldhelpincrease directawareness ol'system
lr-rnctionirrg'l ll'a lack ol'awarcness canoccllrlbr a pou,crlirl andwholc lrodytcnsiun.thcn rrust
not theattcntionalprocessunderlyingdcnialandavoidancc alsobc powerluland gcneral'?
'l'his
rnethodof tensionreductionrequirestrainingthe increased prodr.rction ot'in phasc
alphaabundance andamplitude.In otherwords.tensionreduction.which is generallytraincdby
rcllcctingbackto thc clicnta pcriphcralncrvousproccss. w'asbroughtaboutin m1'scll'by
t r a i n i n go l - t h cc c n t r anl c r v o l r s y s t c m( C ' N S ) .I s n ' tt h i sr c s u l tt.h c s i g n i t i c a nrtc d u c t i o n of wholc
body tcnsion.convincingevidencelbr the greaterellicacyol'centralas opposedto peripheral
biol-eedback training'/I)oesn'tthisobservation suggestthatgcncralizcd tcnsiondcpendsupon
CNS processes and rlay be cllectivelvcontrolledby neurotherap)'" pcrhapsevennrore
effectivelythanby peripheraltrMG training(24). Theseobservations. thoughtsand questions
led rnc to vicw thc ell'ectiveness o1'peripheral modaliticsol'biol'ccdback as possiblyduc alsoto
thcir rcllcctcdimpactuponCNS resporlsc biascs.This view was not sharcdby tnostol'my
colleagues in the biof-eedback communityduringthe 60's.70'sand 80's. Many do not sharcthis
view evennow'.at this writing.
 EARLY EXPERIMENTSWITH BRAIN WAVE SYNCHRONY

In an cllort to hclp othersachievcthis systcmicreleaseo1'bias. this cxpcricntial

rcalizationof mcntal.physical.and morepcrvasivcwcll-being.manytonnaland infirrmal
experimcnts werepertbrmedduringthe ensuing)ears.manyof r.r'hich remainunpublished.With
tlie helpol'undergraduatc andgraduatcstudents ol'theStateLJniversity ol'Neu'York at Stony
Brook(mostnotably'FernSelzer'. SoniaAncoli.PatriciaCowen.andothcrs).r.l'ccxpcrimcntcd
with manyconditionsthoughtto be connected to thc prodLrction of alphaamplitudeand
abundance.We studiedthe efl'ects o1'relaxation and imageryprotocols.instructions and lcarning
g o a l sn " r u s i cl"i g h t i n gc. o l o r s d. a r k n c s ss"i l c n c ci.n c c n s cl .i g h ts t r o b i n gt.h c c l l i c a c yo l ' r , i s u avl s .
auditoryvs. tactilcstinrr.rlation as the l'eedback signal.analogvs. digitalvcrsionsot'thel'eedback
signal"hemispheric dominance and t'eedback delay'regardinglearningto contrclthe production
ol'brain
wavc synchrony.All ol'thescvariablcs. andothcrs.appcarcd to havcat lcastnrild lcarning
etfects.fbr a time.upona smallpcrccntage of individuals.Irll'cctswcrc gcncrallypositivcto a
suralldegrce.but somewere.to our surprise. negative.I"orexanrple. alntostany detailcd
irtstructions abouthow to ploduccnrorcalphaanrplitude or abundarrcc had inrrncdiatcly ncgativc
efflcts.cvenwhenthc instructions wcrc w'ell undcrstood.C'on'rparativcly largcpositivccfl'ccts
wereobservedwith strobing.appropriate fbedbackdclay'.rnatchingthe sensemodalityof the
biolccdbacksignalto thc individual'spcrccptual capacityand prclbrenccs. andthc uscol'an
'l'hroughout
a n a l o g( c o n t i n u o l r svl ya r i a b l cr)a t h e tr h a na d i g i t a l c c d b a c ks i g n a (l c l ' 1 2 .l 4 ) .
thescexperiments only rel'erential" as opposcdto bipolar.recordingw'asemploycd1cf l6). (Sec
b c l o ws c c t i o nc n t i t l c d" L O C A L A N D G L O U A L S Y N C I I R O N Y . " )
'l'hc
grcatcstgcncraland nrostrcliablcproductiono1'alpliasy'nchrony occurrcdin
rcsponsc to what I havcct'rtttc to call "ob.jcctlcssimagcr)'"(cl12. l4). Qucstionsthal rclcr to thc
m u l t i s e n s o reyx p e r i c n coel ' " s p a c c .n" o t h i n g n e sesn. r p t i n c sosr " a b s e n c eo"l i e ne l i c i tl a r g e
amplitudeand prolongedpcriodsol'alphaactivitl'. I wantedto undcrstand r.l'hythis ob.jcctlcss
inragcryis nrorcgcncrallypowerlulthanw'cll-knownrclaxationand irnageryprotocolsin
producing a l p h as y n c h r o nay n dh o u ' i t c o r n c st ( )i m p a c tu s .

A'I'TI.]N'I'IONAND OB.IECT LESS IMAGERY

'l'he
resultsol'theseexperirnents. my own personalexperience o1-neurol'eedback. and
othcrconsidcrations prcviously' dcscribcdhclpcdto lbcusnry ow'nattcntionuponthc w'ilyswc
p a ya t t c n t i o n
t o o u r o \ n s c n s cc x p c r i c n cicn d a i l y ' l i l ' ca. n du p o nt h c i m p a c to f v a r i o u st y p c s o r
stylcs of attentionuponour physiology'. perccption andbehavior.Attentionis dctrnedhereas
thoscbchavioraland rlcntal (andundcrlyingncural)proccsscs which controlthc styleand
directionol'awarcness. in distinctionto any ol-thccontcntsol'awarcncss. (Secscctioncntitled
" D E F I N I T I O NO F S l ' Y L I 1 SO F A ' I ' | F . N T I O N a " n dF i g u r el . )
As the cxperiments progressed it becarne clearthat.in additionto increasing alpha
activity.attcntion to spacc urhanccd thc proccss of cognitivc and u-notional rclcasc. In my vicw.
cnhancement of release occurrcdbccauscspaceis not a ret'erent which onc'sattentioncan readily
apprehendor grip onto sincespaceis w'ithoutfbrn'ror substance and ultin-rate ly empty.devoido1'
all qualitiesand limitless.lt is relatively'casy' lbr thoseof us w'holiavcbccn"civilized"tt't
narrowlyfbcusuponand graspa llnitc thing.a senseob.ject. suchas a thought.sound.f'eeling.
taste.smell.or visual image. Hach in its own way has fbrm and othercharacteristics.However.
whenour habitol'ob.jcctive lbcusol'attcntionis applicdto space.thcrcis nothing(no-tliing)to
apprehcnd.Withoutsomething(somc-thine,) to grip.to w'hichw'ecandircctour habitual
effortful apprehension. and without somethingto u'hich \\'e can narrow'lbcusupon.to the
exclusionol'evcrythingelse.wc observethatexperiential and physicalreleasedeepensin the
contcxo t l'spacc.
By givingattentionto this ungrippablc spacew'ecvcntuallybecomea\.\'are of thc
previouslyunnoticedchronicact ol'grippingor physicaltension.which is associated with our
habitualbiastowardnarrowandob.iectivc lirrmso1'attcntiott. Awarcltess ol-grippirtgis;.r
prcconditionlor the nrotivationto intcntionallyrelcascthis santegrippingtension.Whenthis
habitualattcntion-related tcnsionis released. attentional scopcbroadens and supportsan
'l'his
awareness ol'alsobeingimmersedin a perceivcdvastandpcrvasivcsurrttund. surrttund. tlr
groundol'cxpericncc. hadso l'arbccnexcludedlionr awareness by our narrowlyob.iectivc
attcntional hias toward gripping thc contcnts of limitcd flelds o1'expcricnce. i.c..a limitedscopc
ol'senscob.iects.Aticr opcningour attcntion.whilc includingour alreadyprcscntnarrow'
ob-jectivc attcntionto scnsations in thc ccntcrol'our ncw opcnaw'areltcss. wc cxpcricncca
surroundof inrnrcrscd attcntion.ol'a vastthrccdimcnsional spitcc.nothingness. absctrcc. silctlcc
'I'he
and timelessness. pcrccived surround. the scope ol'ourattention is not only expanded. but is
'l'hus.
cxpcrienccd with greatcrintmersion. tl-regroundol'our cxpericnccis rcillcd.rcalizcdas it
ltlorc pronounccd scnsc ol'prcscncc. a ccntcrcd and unilicdawarcncss. an identitywith a vast
clualitylcssawarcncss it.twhich all ob.iects o1'scnsation float.as myscll.
As wc continucto cxpcricnccspaceand se nsation nroreintinrate ly. tnorcsintultancouslY
a n dc q u a l l yw . c d c e p c nt h c a b s o r p t i oonl - o u ra t t e n t i o inn t l i c t o t a l i t yo l ' p r e s c rct tx p c r i c t t c c .
( A n o t h c rl i l r m o l ' i n t e g r a t cadt t e n t i o ins d i s c u s s eodn p a g c s2 9 a n d3 0 . ) n l l t h a ti s n c c c s s a rtyt r
dcstroythe halanceol'thcscintcgrated fbrmso1'attention is to cllbrt lully apprehend an ob.iect. to
ovcr-litcr.rs upona scnsatitln ()r'r.rp()lr spact: as an ot-r.jcct or corrccpt. llowcvcr. wc call lcarn ttl
q u i c k l yr c - c s t a b l i sbha l a n c c d l o r n r so l ' a t t c n t i o nF. o r m o s tp c o p l ca. l t c r n a t i nsgt y l c st t l ' a t t c n t i o t t .
i.e..bctweennarrowanddifflse and betweenob.iective and immersed. reflectthe cxperiencc
associated with alternately decreasing and incrcasing aburtdancc andanrplitudcol'phasc
s y n c h r o n o uhsr a i nr . l a v ca c t i ri t r .
Thc rcadcrmay wish to cxpcrimcntwith prcviousand subscquent paragraphs. giving
attentionto andconsciously alteringhow andto what onc is attending. A reduction o1'gripping
andcllbrt nraybc obscrved.lbr cxarlplcwhcnone includesthc r,isualand lcclingexpcricnccol'
spacebctweenthc rcadcrandthc pagc.thc spaccaroundthc rcadcr.andthc spaccbctwccnthc
wordswhile the readercontinues to centerhis attentionuponthe wordsand theirnteaning.

T H E E F F E C T SO F B E C O M I N G C I V I L I Z E D : A T T E , N T I O N A LB I A S E S

Very f-ewpeopleescapetheattentionrigidilyingirnpactof our irrmediatcfamilialand

-l'his
broadlysocialcducation. processis heavily'rvcightcd
cducational towardspecilicattcntion
'fhis
biases.A preponderance resource
of our cducational is spenton intellectual dcvelopr-nent.
entails.with graduallygreatersubtletyandspecificity.the singlingout. or in my language.
narrowlbcr-rssing uponandobjcctilication ol'scnsations andconcepts(conccpts arc alst'rob-iccts
of sensation).We learnrepeatedly to narro\\'our lbcusuponandgraspontoexperiences as
ob.jects.That is. we learnto grasp w'ithour attentionthe thousandsof distinctions between
almosteverysensccxpcrienccavailableto us. In addition.w'earerewardcd.cajolcd.applauded.
respected. dcspised. criticized.lovedand punished. accepted and rc'jectcd bascduponour ability
to fbcusupon.ob.iectify. recallandverbalizeour experience throughoutour livcs.
ln mostsocieties. an individualis rewardedwl-ren one is ableto conrrlunicate ob.lective .
cortrmonlyacccpted. lil'e-worldexpcricncc.To bc unat'rle to do so is to l'eelleli out. alicnated. to
bc cxpcrienced and labeledas diffcrcnt.or to bc ignorcdor ostracized by onc'specrs.Thcrelbre.
evcnpeoplewho would not bc considered intellectuals b,vany'relativestandards arealsosub.iect
to thcsc-iudgntcnts and sull'crthc conscquenccs. Wc arcconstantl5,'rcallirnring thc lcvcl ol'our
interpersonal conncctionthroughthe repeated establishrncnt ol're-constrlrctiotts and
'l'his
vcrbalizations o1'narrcwlytbcuscd.oh.jcctirccomrn()n experience. sharednarrow-ob-iectivc
intellectual proccss.particularly'sliared viewsand sharcdr-ncaning. is secnas a ma.lorconlponcnt
o l ' s o c i a l i z a t i oonl.' w h a tw ' eh u r n a ncso n t i n u a l lryc i t c r a t tch a tw e h a v ei n c o n m r o na. s s o c i a l
beings.a rnutualability'to obicctilycachothcrandeverythingelse.usuallyonc srnallbit at a
time.
'l'his
ubiquitoususeof'narrowly'lbcuscdob.icctivc attcntionalsorcprcscnts an attemptto
a c h i c v ca u s c l u l .a n ds a t i s l y i n gl c v c la n ds c o p co l - c o n n c c t i ocnl"o s c n c sasn di n t i n r a c yw ' i t h
others.andwith expcrience itself. Ironicall_n'-. how'ever. in reality.this intinracy.inrrnersion or
lanriliarunionwith cxperiencc canbe accomplished to trul,',- satislyirrg dcpthsonly with othcr
nrorcirln-rcrscd lilrrls ol' attcntion.
Doomedto limitcdsucccss w'e.nevertheless" honeolrr narrowandob.lective lttention
'l'hus.
skillswith the resultol'everincreasing useand fixationo1'narrow'-ob.jectivc attention. it
scclnsto mc tlratthc nia.jorreasonthatthc rclationship lretwccnattcntional changcand brain
w a v ca c t i v i t yh a sn o t b c c nn r o r cw i d c l l ' a p p r c c i a t cids.t h a tm o s to 1 ' u sd o o t v a r yo u r s t y l co l '
n
attentionvery rnuch. We aremoreor lessllxatedin a predclminantly narrow'-ob.iectivc stylcol'
a t t c n t i o nO . t h c rr c a s o n lso r t h i sa t t e n t i o n abli a sw i l l b e n r e n t i o n elda t e r .l n a n y ' c a s e . r c q u i r c s
i t
rathcrspccialcircurlstanccs andnlrtir,'ation to lcadus trl rcturnto altcrnativcatlcntionstylcsand
-l'he
grcaterdegrccsol'attcntionllexibilit1,. spccialcircunistance thatled rnc to this rcalization
was my own personalexplorations andotherlbrmaland inlbrmalncurol'eedback
experiurcntation.

A F I . I N D A M E N T A LH Y P O T H E S I S

Ily learninghow'toturn wholc brainalphasynchronyun ando1l.as rlcdiatcdby

changingattentional style.Iwas led to thc correlation betwcenspccificstylesot'attentionand
parameters ol'brainwaveactir.ity.Generating hypotheses liom nly own expcrienccled to
t c s t i n gt h c s cc o n n e c t i o nwsi t h s p e c i a l l sy c l c c t e pd o p u l a t i o nosl ' a t t e n t i o n a llllye x i b l ci n d i v i d u a l s .
r-rsually artists.athletesand meditators.Theseexperimentsfurtherconvincedme thatattention
and tjB(i parameters arerclated.as suggestcd fiom someof the earlierscientilicliterature(cl'
i n t h c t h i r t i e so n t h c c o n n e c t i obnc t w c e na l p h a
I - i n d s l c yl 7 ) . l l a n s B e r g e r( l t l ) r e p o r t e d
synchronyand relaxedattenticln. betw'een betadesynchrony andthe clricnting-responsc. betwecn
betaandthe lbcusedattentionassociated with problemsolving. Corollary observations in ttur
laboratory-clinic supportthesereports(cl' 12).
Indeed.it is commonlyobserved that.iustopeningone'seyesis enoughto desynchronize
'l'here
brain wave activity in almosteveryonemonitored. were a l'ewindividuals.howcver.whc-r
couldcontinueto produccalphasynchron,v with theireycsopen. T'hissuggestedthatsynchrorty
was rclatedto variablesothcrthanthosespecilically' associatcd w'iththe contcntsor thc proccss
o1'visionitsell. Furthermore. lbr thosew'howould invariablydesynchronize uponopeningtheir
cyes"this would continucto t'rccur evenw'hcntheyopenedthcir cyesin completedarkness.With
ON-OIiFalphancurof-cedback training.thischangcin alphas1'nchrony r.l'ithcycsopcningand
closingcan be uncoupled.Someindividualscouldevcnproducean abundance of alphawhile
'l'aken
reading. together.this lent lurthersupportto thecontentionthata centralprocess. like
attcntionor arousal.rathertliana specilicvisualprocessclrvisualcontctrt.w'asrelatcdttt chatlgcs
i n a l p h aa c t i v i t y ' .
Pcrhapsmostsupportive o1'thebroadrelevance ol'attentionandarousalto trtr(i changcis
thc invariableobservation thatalpha production increascs anddecreascs ll'onttnanypartsof'thc
brain.sinrultancousl)'. uponcycsclosingandopening.Il'onli,'thevisr"ral systcrnlr'asittvolvcd.
'l'his
onc mightcxpcctthatalphaactivitvwouldchangeonly in the visual s1'stent. c.g..occiput.
colnlronobservation ol'globalt'.lrGchangealsosuggests thatagcneralproccss.suchas
a t t e n t i oo n r a r o u s a li.s i n v o l v c da n dc o r r c l a t cw d i t h c h a n g c isn a l p h aa c t i v i t y .I n a n y c a s c w " ith
continucdncurofcedback practice.a point is reachcdu'hcrcthisconncctiort bctwccnlrlr(i
activity.arousalandattentionbecomes a personalrealization.It is pcrhaps becauscthereis sucl't
a widcly acknowlcdgcd relationship betweenarousallcvcl and brainwavc activitythat I bclicvc
thc nrcdiatingcllcctsol'attentionuponbotharousalandbrainactivity'havcbccnlargcly
u n e x p l o r c dA. s s h a l lb c l u r t h e rd c s c r i b c idn l a t c rs c c t i o nos l ' t h i sp a p c r( c l ' d i s c u s s i o n r esl a t c dt t t
ligures2 and 3) and in a companionpaper(28).arousal.brainwavc activityandattentionarc
a l s or n u t u a l l yi n l l u c n t i a l .S i n c ca t t c n t i o ni s t h eo t t cv a r i a t r l nc t o s tp o t c n t i a l l uy r t d c rv o l u n t a r y
c o n t m l .i t s ' t r a i n i n gw o r . r lhda v ec o n s i d c r a bpl eo t e n t i ai lr n p a cut p o nb r a i t ta c t i v i t y a. r o t t s a l .
pcrceptionand perfbrmancc.
O b s c r v a t i o npsu b l i s h c cdl s c w h c r (cc l ' 1 2 ) s h o u ' ctdh a tu ' h c na p a i n t c r - a r t iw s ta sa s k e dt o
view thc visual surroundings ol-our laboratory with critical attcntion to dctail. his wholc l-rrairt
activitydesynchronized. l'hcnwhcnaskedto acceptor apprcciatc this cxtcrnalvisual
environnrent with a wider scope and less critically. his brain u'avc activity bccatnerlorc
syncltronizcd.Again.whcn askcdwith cycsstill opcnto dirccthis attcntiottgetterallyiltward.ttr
v i s L r a l i zacs p c c i f i cp a i n t i n gh c h a dc r c a t c da n dc n j o y c dh. i s w h o l cb r a i na c t i v i t )w a sa g a i n
relativelymoresynchronized thanu'hencomparedto thc brainactil'ityassociated with critical
attentionto detail. Repeated observations in other scrtsc nrodalitics also conltrnr thc prescncc ol'
a connectionbetwecndillercntattcrttionst1'lcs and brainwavc activity (scc also l4). No
mcntionwas made concerning arousal level or relaxation during these and many other
cxperimcnts.Morcover.it is suggested thattheseobscrvedconncctions bctweettbraitlwavc
activityand attcntion arc in lact dcpcndent on the nicthods ot'rccording brain waveactivity.
w h i c ha r cd i s c u s s eidn t h ef b l l o w i n cs e c t i o n .

LOCAL AND GLOBAL SYNCHRONY

One completecy'cleof a delta.theta.alphaor betau'ar,'eitself.measuredliont any one

locationo1'thebrain.may be typiliedby a positivewavelbllowcdby a ncgativewave. This
positive-ncgative cycleis the rcsultof the synchronization of excitator,v activityfbllowedby thc
synchronous relaxationor inhibitionof the activit,vof the samebraincellsin the vicinity of the
'l'hc
scltsors. grcatcrthc arcaandanrplitude ol'ccll mcmbrancactir,'ity and thc grcatcrthe
n u n r b eor 1 - c e l lssi m u l t a n c o u sal yc t i v ea n dt h e ns i m u l t a n e o u sql vu i e t .t h eg r e a t c irs t h e
peak-to-peak amplitudeof the w'ave.Whcn "ref'erential" or so-called"monopolar"recording
t c c h n i q u casr eu t i l i z c d( c l ' 1 6 ) .i t i s p o s s i b l teo o b s c r v cs y n c h r o niyn t h c v i c i n i t yo t ' e a c hs e n s o r
at one or rnorebrainlocationssimultancously. Irecdback signalscant"reprovidcdwhich
represent the localsynchronyof onc rccordingchanncl.or thc intra-brain or intcr-brain
'l'wo
synchronyol'two or morerecordingchannels. or morechanne ls ol'activityaresaidto be
synchronous or in-phascw'hcnthcir rcspcctivcpcaksandtroughsoccurat thc samctirnc.
Signilicantand positivetherapcutic cf'fcctshavcbecnrcportcdrecentlylirrrr singlecharnrrel
t ' e e d b a c k t r a i n i n g ( c f ' 1 9 -H 2o 2w ) .e v e r . m o s t o f t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s o f s y n c h r o n y d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s
paperarethe resultol'llvc-channcl. or u'hatI termglobal(wholcbrain).phasescnsitivc
'l'hc
ncr-rrolccdback. scltsorplaccrlcntslbr this rcscarch arc reprcsentcd by tlrc locationsknowrr
as I'l)2. C7..07.and T3 and'l'4 in the international l0/20 s)'stemof trtrGclcctrodcplacuncnt
(23).with onc car lobcas rcl-erence andothcrear lobeas ground.

TRANSITIONS

On sotle days wc llow easily through thc perlbrrlancc ol'our tasks.whilc orr othcrs wc
lccl lirrccd and our pcrlorntanccrcquircscfJirrt. Wc lccl loving. gcncroLlsand absorbcdin sornc
nrontents.and critical. unf'cclingand scparatcin others. l)roblcntsf'cclovcrwhelrling and
uttsolvableone rrorncnt. and the sanic problcms lbel not at all or lessdillicult thc next momcnt.
lrvert whcn thcre is lro appart:ntreasonlbr the changc"achesand pains vary in intensity li'ont
'l'hcsc
nrontentto montent.day to day. day'-to-day'.momcnt-to-nrurncntchangcsin our
awarencssof ourown behaviorand cxperiencebring into questionchangesin whcl we are. and in
what rattgcol'cxpcrienccdo we have acccss.as il'we arc rrade up ol'niultiplc cntities.cacli with
its own limitcd acccssto awarct.tcss.Wliat accountslirr sLrchcliangcsor dillcrcnccs'l
A number ol'f-actorsmay be responsiblelbr the vast dilJ-crcnces in how'wc experiencc.
how wc think and how we behavco'u'ertirne. Many prudentthcrapists-researchers attributesuch
changesto a rnyriad ol'subtlc f'actorsand particularly'tostrcssorstoo crlrrplcx and varicd to
cltlllncratcat ottc tinrc. How'cvcr.bascdon nlany pcrsonaland clinical observationsovcr 30
years.I have proposedthat howcvcr it is causedto change.one variable.the processol'attention
'l'hesc
itscll. accountsfbr tnost ol'thc varianceassociatcdwitli the transitionsnrcntioncdhere.
rla.iortransitiottsare predominantly'afl-ectedby. and result liorn. changcsin how wc pay
attention. Converselythesetransitionsresult lessthan rve would ordinarily think liom what we
pay attcntionto. that is. to thc contcnt ol'attention.

D E F I N I T I O N O F S T Y L E SO F A T T E N T I O N

As FigurcI illustrates.
theattcntional
rnodclol'awareness includcstw'ooverlappingscts
'I'he
ol'axesand fbur parameters. horizontalsetof axesdepictsthe scopeof attcntion.which
extendsfiom a sphericaland unlimiteddifluseattentionat one endto a narrow'scope
and focus
 -l'he
of'attentionat the otlrer. verticalsct of axcsdepictsproxinritl tt'rcxn"t""n.c. whiclr cxtcndsfionr
ob.jective or separatefiorn the contentsof attentionat the top to absorbedor immersedattentionat thc
bottomof'the verticalaxis.
lrachof'tlrcscparalrcters.as their descriptorssuggcst.rcprcscntindividualcharactcristics ol'
attention.The extremcof "difflse or broad"attentionis associatcd witlr an all-around.three
d i n t e n s i o n asl .i m u l t a n c o uasn d e q u a la t t e n t i o nt o a l l t h e a v a i l a b l e x t e r n aal n d i n t e r n asl t i r n u l a
i nd
thc spacein which they occur. "Narrow or pointed"attentionrclersto an awareness o1'alimited sub-
s e to f a v a i l a b l es t i r n u l ti o t h e e x c l u s i o no f t h e o t h e rs t i m u l i .

Ob.iective or Separate Attcntion:

Scparationot'Attcntiontionr l:igurcattd(lround

FocusAttention

Inclusive. I)criplrcraland ('e ntral I:xclusivc.Narrow or I)oirrtcd

I )i l'lirscAltcrrtiort Attcntiorr

r ith [risure
r s c do r A b s o r b e dA t t c n t i o n I: J n i o no l ' A t t c n t i o tw
Inrnre
and Cround

l r IS' Y l , H SO I r A ' l " l ' l r N ' l ' l O N

- t ' A W A R N E S SW H I C H I N ' l ' F T G R A ' l 'S
l ' l G t J R t rl : O P I r NF O C t i S .A M O I ) F . l O

'lhe
Thc cxtrcmeof "narrow focused"attentionis one-pointcdattention. extrenteol"'intmersedttr
absorbed"attentionret-ersto a wa)'of relatingto availableexpericncesuchthat the perst'rnpaying
'l'he
attentioncntersinto a union with or becornestotally absorbedin the experiencc. extrcrncol'
"ob.jectivcor separatc"attentionoccurswhen thc sell'iscomplctclyremotcl}om tlrecontcntsttl'
attcntion.disconnected from singlcor multisensoryexpcrienceo1'theattender.without empathyor
(into-it-ness).Extremesof "ob.jectiveor separate"
intr.rition with coldness
attentionare associated
whereas extreme"immersedor absorbed"attentionmay be associated
with warntthand
closcness. tirll irlntersicln in ongoingsingleor multisensory cxpcricncc.
QuadrantA of Figure1 abovereprcsents a narro\\'fbcus-ob.iective typeo1-attention. the
attentional stylewhich is mostdominantin our societr.a civilizationdisposed to the over-useof
lincar-ob.jcctivc inlbrrnationprocessing skillsol-thclelt hcnrisphere. Whilc rapidand complctc
attcntionalnarrowingand ob.icctivc lbcusis at tirncsncccssar\'lirr optirnalbchavior.thcrcis. in
our day.an unfbflunate tendencvtow'ardoveruseandconscqucnt chronicrigidityof
'l'he
narrow,-ob-lective attentional processing. extremecaseol'ternporary'attention llxation
occLrrs in conditionsol'panicwhcrethe actol'narmw'lircusing uponandob.lectilying the lbared
ob.icctmay bring abouta catatonic-likc rigidityof fbcusanddircctionaloricntation.A lcss
extreme.but moreenduringexampleof chronicnarrow-ob.jective fbcusis obsessive worry and
'l'he
preoccupation r.l'ithrecurrentthought. discussion presented prcviouslydescribes our
prcdilcctionto narrowlbcused-ob.icctivc attcntionandour conscqucnt obscssion with and
fixationuponits usc.
'l'he
attentional oppositcol'narrow'-ob.iective attcntion(reprcsented by QuadrantA) is a
('ol'l;igr-rrc 'l'his
dilllsc lircr-rs-irlrrcrscd attcntion(rcprcsentcd by Quadrant l). typc o1'attcntiott
represents the releasell'orna narro\\'andob.lective attentional fircus. a rclcasc w'hich is
intcrmittcntlythcrapeutic lor attentional ef'fbctivencss and llexibility'.Normalization ol-lunction.
h c a l i n ga. n dd i l l u s i o no l ' a c c u m u l a t csdt r c s sa r ct h c r c s u l to l ' d i f l u s c - i m m c r s a cd ttcntion.
Incrcascd unity or inrnrcrsion lcadsto thc lapsco1'sell-conscior-rsly dircctcdattcntion.and is
'l'hc
excmplificdin thc ct'lbrtlcss pcrlbnnancco1'w'cll-lcarned or instinctivebchavior. cllortlcss.
c r c a t i v cp e r l b r m a n coel ' a na r t l i r r mo r a t h l c t i cl e a ta r ec x a m p l c s I. n d c c d i.n o u r b i o l c e d b a c k
clinic-laboratory. acconiplishcd artists.athlete s andnrcditators den.ronstratc llexiblecorrtrolovcr
thc dinrcnsions of attentionandthcir associatcd I-.lrGpararnctcrs. 1'hcy'arcuniquclyadcptat
mergingwith a wide arrayol'sensorl'experiences simultaneously'.
'l'hc
d i l l u s cl b c u s - o b . j c c t irvl ocd c o l ' a t t c n t i o(nr c p r c s c n t cbdy Q u a d r a nltJ . l : i g u r cl ) i s
o n c i n w h i c hm u l t i s c n s o rcyx p c r i c n cics s i r n u l t a n c o u s l l ' aonbd. i e c t i v cpl yr c s c n ta. p o t e ^ n t i a l l y
vastmultidimensional ob.iective awareness. An array'ol'ob.iective sensations hangsuspended in
tlic rnidstol'a rnuregcneraldilluseawareness ol'spacc.Playingin a band.appreciatirrg a
p a n o r a m iscu n s c tg. o i n gl o r a w a l k o r d r i v i n ga c a r ' -t h c s ca r ca n l o r l gt h c a c t i v i t i c sl i r r w l i i c l ia n
appropriate rclationalstratcgyma1'cmphasizc difflsc tbcus-ob.jcctivc attcntion.
'l'he
irnnrersed narrowlbcustypeo1'attcntion (rcprescntcd by Quadrant[) ol'l;igurc l)
i n c l u d c sa b s o r p t i vrcn o d e s u c ha s i n t e l l c c t u a l li yn t c r c s t i nogr c m o t i o n a l l l ' a r tpdh y s i c a l l y
plcasantand stimulatingactivitics.T'hescareactiviticsrvhichone wislresto amplily with narnrw
lbcusand to which one w'ishcsto mor,'ccxpcrientially closerto. in orderto intensilyand savor
the evcnt. Onc may observethc narrou'lircusabsorbcdlook on thc laccol'an cnraptured
tlrinkcr"lantasizcr. conccrtgocr. galncplaycror somconccxpcricncing dccprnusclcrrassagcor
othersensuous physicalactivities.Partol the attraction ot'certaincultural.arlisticand athlcticor
physicaleventsrnaybc to providean occasionlbr becorning absorbcd and immersedwith
'l'his
minimumsclf'-consciousncss. alsomakesunderstandablc thc comnroncxatnpleol'thc
inertiaand irritationexpcrienccd whcn distracted or interrupted fiom a taskin u'hichyou are
narrowlyanddeeplyinvolved.Onc is lbrcedto becomesell'-conscious againand to experience
the sell--other split again. Prcconscious perlbrmancc o1'awell learnedtaskis il mostcontnton
e x a m p l eo l ' w h e no n ei s n a r r o w . liyn r m e r s eidn f u n c t i o n i n gM . i h a l y ' C s i k s z e n t m i h a( cl yf i2 4 )
appearsto describethis quadrant's attentionas responsible fbr sustaining of the "flow"

10
cxpcncncc.

OPEN FOCTISATTENTION

Irull OPIIN FOCIISattention.illustrated in Figure1 bv thc brokcncircles.includes

ditluse.narrow.ob.jectivc. and immersedfbrmsof attention- all occurringmoreor lessequally
'l'he
and simultaneously. with a concurrent awareness ol'theirprcscncc. ultirnategoalol'Open
Iiocustrainingis to attainthc attcntionalllcxibilitl'adcqLratc lbr rnovinglieely by degrccsamong
and w i t h i na t t e n t i o n as lt y l e s .i n c l u d i n ga l l . a t t i m e s s. i m u l t a n c o u s l y ' acnqdu a l l y .F r o n rw h a ti s
knownabouteachol-theindependent parameters of attcntion.one is temptedto ascribenarrow'
and ob.jcctivc attcntionto leli licrnisplicrc organizcdproccsscs anddifluscand irnrrcrscd
attentionto right henrisphcrc organizedproccsscs.In any casc.bccause ol-tliepliysicaland
functionalindependence ol-eachof thc mechanisms which give riseto eachol'the paranreters ol'
'l'lius.
attention.it is possiblclirrall ol'themto be presentsinrultancously'. wc posscss thc
p o t c n t i atlo a t t c n dt o a n ) g i r c r rc o n t c not l ' a t t c n t i o inn a v a r i c t l ' o l ' s t y l c si n. d i v i d u a l l yi .n
combination. and by degrees.I{owcvcr.w'ithsocialization trainingand by habit.wc usr.rally
'l'here
attcndto larniliarandsirnilarsituations in csscntially the samew'av.that is. habitually. is
little doubtthatall succcsslul lcarningandclptimalpcrlbrmancc involvcsdircctirrgrppropriatc
stylcsol'attcntiontowardrclcvantstimuliin an cfl'cctivclvchorcographcd scqucncc.Stylcsol'
attention.lluid and relevantfigureandgroundproccssing. andthe timingol'tlreiroccurrcncc arc
o b v i o u s l vc r i t i c a l ' a c t o rlsb r a l l l c a r n i n g .

I M P A C T O F S T Y L E SO F A T T E N T I O N

OLrrsocictyhastaughtus rnany'biascslbr adoptingand nraintaining ccrtainstylcsol'

'l'hc
attcntion.Attcntionalbiascsarca lundanrcntal componcntof tlic socialization proccss.
societalbiasI am rcl-erring to hereis relatedto how \\'epay attentionand not to thc dircctionol'
our bcanrol'attcntionallbcus.or to the particularscnsorycontentsol'attention. althouglisocictal
b i a s e sa p p l yt o t h c ma l s o .
I proposethathow we pay attcntiondctcrmincssigniticantlvand immediatelyour
cxpcricncc.physiology.and bchavior.How'wepay attentiondctermincs our sub.jcctivc
e x p c r i e n cocl ' o u r o w n i d c n t i t y
alrd o u r o b . i c c t i veex p c r i c n cocl ' i n t c r n aal n dc x t c r n asl c n s a l i o n
and perception.With the aid ol-neurol-eedback trainingandwith otherdirectapproaches to
wc
attentiontraining can becomeawareol'how we pay attention.
Also. w'ecan lcarnto llexibll'chooseanddeterminehow we attcrtd.C'ertainly'ntost ol'us
havcthc abilityto chooscthe dircctionof'ournarrowattcntion.in ordcrto chooscto cxpcricncc
any subsctol'availablestimuliat an1'giventime. With training.\\'ecanalsochooseto hroadcn
the scopeol'ourattcntionto includca moredilluseand integrated background awarcncss ol'
a v a i l a b l cs t i r n u l ie. v c ni n m u l t i p l cs c n s cm o d a l i t i cssi m u l t a n c o u s l M y . o r c o v c rw
. c c a nc h o o s ct o
flcxibly pay attentionin otherw'aysw,hichhelpus functionrlore or lessw'ellin specilic
conditions.
In additionto thc attcntionalprcssures o1'socialization. thercis a pcrsonaltcndencyto
becomeaddictedto. stuckin. or identifledwith thosewaysof'payingattentionthatarc
personallypleasant or strategically irnportant or usefulto us. We tendto becomeattachedor

ll
 'l'hesc
c o n d i t i o n ctdo s t y l e so f a t t c n t i o n
w h i c hp a yo l i ' i n s o m ei r r m c d i a t cw a ) s . conditioned
stylcstnayalsohavehiddenlong termcosts.throughactivelyneglecting othcrattentionstylcs
which"if flexiblyincluded.may in f'acthavelongtermbeneflts.
For exatnple.resistance. avoidanccanddenialdependupondirectingour narrow'fircus of
attcntionaway lionr noxior.rs contcnt.Thc ongoingcllbrt associatcd witli thc rnaintcnancc ol'
narrowfbcr-rs lbr the purposes of avoidance. andotherreasons. bccomesa stressproducinghabit.
'l'hcn.
ol'course.we inevitablypal'the perceptual. behavioral and physiological conscqucnces cll
'l'hcsc
suchstratcgicand cltroniccllirrtlul attcntional biascs. conscqucnccs arc rcprcscntcd by
the symptorns which arecauscdur aggravated b-vstressand its accumulation.
Wc arealwayspaying attentionin somew'av. Remember w'henyour parcntscriticized
you lirr not payingattcntion'lWhatthei'reallynteantw'asthat1,'ou weren'tpayingstrictenough
(c.g..narrow-ob.jective) attcntionto theni.or to whatthey'l'eltwas inrportant.Aficr all. you
werc.in lact"payingattention. evcnil'it w.asto something clseand in a differcntway thanthey
thoughtwas appropriate . In gcneral.peoplereactpositivclyto us whenwc lct thcm guideus to
attcndto whatthcy valucand in thc rrodc ol'attcntionthcy l'cclis appropriatc.(icncrally.thc
morccontpletelywe mirrorthc attentiorr stylcsand strategies ol'our companions the grcatcris
our potentialrapportand acceptance.
Itight now y()uarc payingattcrttionto this paper. You rnaylrc attcndingwith cllirrtlirl
and Itarrow-ob.iectivc conccntrltti()n ()ryou nraylrc attcndingcl'lortlcssly and broadlyinrnrcrscd.
o r i n s o n t cc o m b i n a t i oonf t h c t w ' o . I l o p c t u l l y ' ) ' ocua nr e c o g n i zlcr o wy o u a r cp a y i r r ga t t c n t i o r r
br-rt. ilt alty casc.you arc payingattentinn.Attentionis sonretliing',ve all do all the tirtre.but we
d o i t i n v a r i o u sw a y s .a s p r c v i o u s l oy u t l i n c d .I t i s t h e s ev a r i o u sw a v so l ' a t t c n d i ntgh a tl t a v c
r.rniqr.rcly dil'lbringand signiticantirnpactson our rnoods.minds.behaviorand physiology.It is
the styleor combination ol'styleso1'ourattentionthatprcpares Llstrore or lcssappropriately lirr
spccilicsituations andoptirnunrpcrlbrrnancc.

FIG TJRE-GROT]ND RELATIONS

liigurc-ground. or lirrcground-background. rclationsarc intrinsicto cll.;ctivclunctionand

activityin all humanpursuits. (ioal oricntcdbehavioris widcly considcrcd to be dcpcndcntupon
ccntcringand narrowlbcLrssing or conccntrating one'sattentionprelerentially uponthosestirnuli
w h i c h : l r ct . t t o sr tc l e v a ntto a c h i c v i n gt h eg o a l . W h i l eo n cc o n c c n t r a t cosr l i r c u s c so.n c g i v c s
cxtralirrcgroundattentionto relevantstimLrli. calledthe ligure.andallowslcssrelevantstinruli
ladeinto the background. or groundol'aw'areness. At the extreme.only the lbregroundexists
with totalcxtinctionol'thc background.At thc othcrcxtrcmc.all is backgror-rnd withor.rt ligurc.
Iiigurc-ground rclatiottsntostr-rsuallf involvca narrowlbcusol'attcntionol'a ligurrcin
the centerof awareness. and a difflse surroundattentionto theground.not unlikethe
relationship betweettlbvealand peripheral vision. Normally'.the ligureis ob.jectilied.Less
s e l i g u r cc n t e r c di n t o .t h u sy i c l d i n ga n c x p c r i c n cocl ' u n i t yw i t h t h c l i g u r c . S o l i r r
l i ' e q u c n t l y 'ti h
mostpcople.tluidityo1'attention is limitedto shifiingnarrow'lyfbcusedccntraltbrcground
attentionscqucntiallyliom onc porlionol-therelevantstimulusfield to another.as may be
'l'he
appropriate to onesgoals. dillusebackground is ignored.Alternatively"and less
comnronly.one ma) give extraattentit'rn to the wholebackground. thusbringingit into a dif flse
lbreground.Sucha difluselbregroundlendsitsell'toan integrated perception of wholeness and

12
cquanlmlty.
Indecd.at middlelcvelsof arousal.all individualstylesof attentionarealwayspresent.
evenduring goal orientedactivity.and they aredistributedamonglbregroundand background.
accordingto lcarning.conditioningand habit. l'hc majorbcnclltol'rcgularOpcn liocuspracticc
i s t h ep e r i o d i cs u s p e n s i oonl ' t h ec l l b r t t o e s t a b l i sahn dm a i n t a i na n c x c l u s i v cb i a so l - a l t c n t i o n .
fbr example.the ellbrt to chronicallymaintainan ob.jective ligurein the lbregroundof
'l'his
awarcncss. suspension ol'ctlbrt to controlattcntionis the relcasecll'attentional bias"and
rcsultsin a naturalby product.a pervasive rapidbalancingand nornralization o1'physiological
functionandassociated healins.

T H E E F F E C T SO F A T T E N T I O N T ] P O N P H Y S I O L O G Y

Let me suggcstan cxamplcof how attcntionatfcctsphysiology.Il'you watchnature

lilms you probablyhavesecnpredatory' anirnalshuntingand runningdow'nthcir prcy. Lct'ssay
a lioncssspicsa groupo1'gazelles. liirst the lioncssbccomeslixatcdlyand narnrwly'lbcLrscd on
'l'he
a singlcob.iect of prey.in this example.a singlegazelle.amongrnany. lionesswill continr-rc
'l'he
to stalkand thenchasethe chosengazelle.andno other. lionessattcndsin a narrowly
lbcuscdob.iective w'ay.in thc lirrcground" cl'cnthoughothcr gaze llesmay at tinrcs.conrc
'l'his
p h y s i c a l l cy l o s c rt h a nt l i c o n c s h ci s c h a s i n g . i s b c c a u stch c c l o s c rg a z c l l c a
s r ci n t h c
b a c k g r o u nodl 'a t t c n t i o n .
'l'his
kind ol'narrowlylocusedand llxatedob.jcctivc lbrcgroundattcntionservcsa
purposclirr thc linncss.Narmw'lbcuscd-ob.jcctivc lbrcgroundattcntionis a kcy cornponcnt in
'l'his
o r g a n i z i nh g e r b o d yl b r t h c " l i g h t "( o r " 1 1 i g h t " ) r n o do cl - r c s p o n d i n g . l o r n ro l ' a t t e n t i o n
crcatcsthe permissive conditionslbr shilisin ernergenc)'-appropriate hormoncs(suchas
adrcnalinc). incrcased bloodllow to the big rnuscles andcmcrgcncy-rclatcd trodyorgans"and irr
othcrphysiological changcswhichu'ill hclp supportcll'cctivcstalkingand chasingbcliavior.
W i n o r l o s e .w h e nt h ec h a s eh a se n d e dt.h e l i o n e s s ' a t t e n t iw oni l l m o v et o w a r dd i l l u s e
absorbcdand intcgratcdfigurc-ground attcntion.I;ollowingthis cliangein thc balancco1'hcr
attentionstylcsarc a scricsol-physiological ad.justrrcnts away'lionrcnrcrgcncy and in thc
directionol'normalization ot'functionandrelease o1'stress. We liavealsoseenlilrnsof tlie
lionessrestingin the shadeas sheyawnslazy-eyed. occasionally lickinghersell.No longeris
'l'l.rcrc
shcpay'ingattcntionin thatnarrow'l1'-lircussed. ob.jcctive. llxatedon the luregroundw'ay.
is a shili to a rnorcdifluscd.f'lcxiblcand lessob.jectir.'c. moreabsorbed. attentionwhich is again
'l'liis
key to the reorganization ol'thc physiologyol'thelioncss. lbrm of attentionis associatcd
witli tlic end ol'errcrgcncylunctioningand with the parasyrnpathetic shili w'hichaccornpanics
hontcostasis and normalization ol'physiology': relaxingthc rnusclcs. rcad.justing hornlrnalllows
and returningfunctionand bloodflou'distribution to pre-emergencl' levelswhich w'ecall
normal. l;or the lioncss.andotlieranirrals.how'theypa.v- attcntionis a key'componentin
pmducingthc rnanyarousalandothcrbody'changcs which arcappropriatc to supportspccilic
behaviors.
I proposethe samerelationship o1'attention to f unctionis true lbr hurnankind.I low we
pay attcntiondirectlyall'ectsour arousalandothcrbody lunctions.which.in turn"dircctlyall'ccts
our pcrceptions. emotionsandbehavior.Ilowcver.we do not usuallypay attentiort to how we
pay attentionbecause of habits.culturalbiases.anddifllcultyin apprehending this subtleskill.

l-i
Tlius.wc havelittle inrmediatc knoil'lcdgcandawarcncss ol'thisconnection of attentionstylcto
perception. behaviorand homeostasis (25). Neverlheless. we can learnto pay attentionto how
we pay attention.Therearetimes.how'ever. whenll'e are given glimpseso1'thisability.
Recognizing how narrow'andimmersedw'ewereduringan excitingmovie.or how narrowand
altcrnatclydiftlse we werewhenorganizinga groupfunctionsuchas a flrc drill or trip arc
examplesof suchglimpses.but thcscarerare.
Most likely.animalsdo not havetheoptionto pay attcntionto tlicir own attentiorr
proccss.at leastnot as tully as hurnanscan. l'hcir attcntionis probablynruchnroredircctly
geneticallyproscribed andconditioncdthanis oursto statesof physiologl'andexternal
circumstance and is lessavailableto voluntarychoicc. In my opinion.w'hatmakesus lully'
cvolvcdhuntansis thc rcalizcdabilityto attcndto hou'\\'cpayattcntionand thcnchooscarrd
adopthow wc pay attention.Whenw'elearnto pay attcntionto the rangeol'stylcsol'our own
attcntion.we arethcnablcto makcthc attcntion-function conncction andchooseour attcntional
stylcintelligently.Ltr(i synchronytrainingand ncurol'ccdback thcrapyin all its lbrnrs.is
u n i c l r . r csluy i t c dt o l a c i l i t a t ct h c r c c o g n i t i o na.p p r o p r i a tcch o i c ca. n d l l c x i h i l i t yo l ' a t t c n t i o snt y l c .

RIGIDITY OF ATTENTION AND ITS RELATION TO STRESS

Only with a rcncwcdintcrcstin andawarcncss ol'our oi,,v'n attcntiorr stylcscan wc bc

libcratcdfiom old habitsof attentionwhich may no longcrscrvcus wcll. As was nrcntioncd
carlier.the capacityto narrowandob.jcctilyis perhapsthe mostdevclopedattentionstylcin our
s o c i c t y .I I o w c v c r .r n a n ys t i l l n e e ds o n t ep r o pi n t h c l i r r r roi l ' a c i g a r c t t o
c r c u p o l - c o l l c ci r ro r d c r
to rrruster the attentional energyncccssarv to establish and rnaintainnarrow'locus-ob.icctivity.
'l'hc
capacitylbr scnsatclocus.as in sexualexperience. prescnts diflrculticslirr rnany
individuals.Iinhancctlcntol-narrowlircus-absorbcd attcntionis nccdcdin suchcascs.
('onvcrscly.bothdil'lirsclircus-scparatcncss anddillirsclircr-rs-absorption arc alsoncccssary lirr
the optimizaticln of lunctioningin certaincircunrstances. as an antidoteto thc over-used narrow
'l'his
Iocusstatcs. nccdis dcmonstratcd and remediedby well attcrrded retrcatsand workshops
Ior "burncdout" r.ncrnbcrs ol'tlic busincss. thcrapcr.rtic. cducational and largcrcornnrurrily.
Chronicovcr fbcusor. morcprecisely'. intenselbregroundnarrowfbcus.which creates
and is subsequently supported by chronicallyraiscdarousallcvelsand which leadsto thc chronic
c x c l u s i o no l ' t h cb a c k g r o u npdc r i p h c r aal t t c n t i o n al llc l d o l - a \ \ a r c n e si s .a s o u r c co l ' t c n s i o nt h a t
'fhis
accumulates over tirle. tensionis liom the habitualuseo1-anarrowedlircuso1'attention to
obscssor. oppositely. to avertone'snarro\\'lbcusas parto1'astrateg)'ol'avoidance or denial.
'l'lius.
thc chrclnicact o1-narrow'ing our locusandthe chronicuseol'narrowlircusas a
mcchanisrn lirr rnanaging crpcricnccrcprcscnts a signilicantsourccol'physiological strcssand
physicaltension.In fact.the chronicmaintenance of narrow'-ob.jective attentionintcrf-crcs with
'l'hc
the dif lusiono1'accumulatcd strcssand thc process ol'homeostasis (25). remissionol'nlarly
s t r c s sr c l a t e ds y m p t o r niss a s i d ee l l ' c cot l ' a ni n c r e a sicn l l c x i h i l i t yo l ' a t t e n t i oann d i n t h c
optirnization of-attcntional f unctionthroughsimultaneous integration o1'thevariousstylesol'
attcntion.Indeed.wc havclbundthatdiflusefbcustrainingpromotcsrenewedcapacityfbr
nan'owlbcusing.Persons conrplaining ol'an inability'toconcentratc. listlessness. dimitrishcd
sexualactivity.dirninr.rtion o1'workproductivityanddepression llnd theirnarrowfbcusskills
returningafiera periodol'diflusefbcuspractice(25). By lirst releasing the ellbrt and stress

1 A
I T
associated with chronicnarrowfbcus.narrowfbcusedactivitiescanthenbe renewedwith
clarity.enthusiasm. anddiminishedstress.Thus.suchattentiontraining.alongwith other
attcntionrelatedneurof-eedback therapy.can speedrecovery'froma rangeof attentiondeflcit
disorde rs.
With awarcncss and practiceol-attcntional llcxibilitl'onccanhaveincreasingly greater
choiceand eascof implemcntation o1'attention stylcandconscquently greaterchoiceover how
'l'his
onc leels.perceives. thinks.behaves and functionsphysiologically'. attention-physiology
conncctioncan bc confirnrcdb,vattachingbiol'eedback sensors to nnc'sow'nbody - any
biofccdback rnodalityw'ill do. Then.the st1'leof attentioncanbe varicdll'or.n narrow-ob.icctive
to dilluseimmcrscdattentionandto simultaneous integrations ol'thesewhile observingthc
lccdbacksignal. lt rnaytakc somcpracticcto bringaboutgcnuincattcntionchangc.and to
bccorncaw'areof this changc.but w'henit happens corrclations canbc obscrvcdin galvanicskin
resistancc (GSI{).tcmpcraturc. rnusclctcnsionand brainw'avcactivity. C'onversely. with
neurol-eedback onecan lcarnto bringaboutaltcrnatcincrease s anddecreases in synchronyat
variouslrcqr-rcncics andobservccorrcsponding changcsin atturtion. IIowcvcr.it is obscrvcd
tliatchangcsin CiSR.temperature andmuscletensionindividLrally'do not ncccssarilyproducc
changesin brainwavc actil'itvor attcntion.
Itccentcvidcnccsuggcsts thatan avcragcol'r'norcthan40% ol'thc daily w'akingtirncol-
t h c a n i m a l so l ' o u rp l a n e its s p c n tr c s t i n g( n o ts l e e p i n g i)..c . .n o t c n g a g i n g i n t h c t y p co l '
goal-oricntcd bchaviorw'hichis associated u'ith narrowlyob.jective lbrmsof attention.tlnlike
anirnals.mosthumansspcndalmostno timc.on a daily'basis. in dilluseand imnrcrscdlilrmsol'
nttcntion..iLrst bcing.non-goaloricntcd.not doing. ls thisr,,'hvu'c lail to dil-luscarrdnornralizc
o u r s t r c s sa n dt e n s i o n ' Il s t h i su h 1 ' s t r e sasn dt e n s i o na c c u m u l a t eN ' l o o n c s c e k sc h r o n i ct c t r s i o r t
'l'herelbre"
intcntionally. tensionrttustaccuruulate as a sideel1'cct ol'sorneotherort-goirrg
proccss.It is liypothesizcd thatthisothcrprocessappcarsto bc largelyrclatedto thc chronicand
linritcdwaysw'cpay attcrrtion. u'hichsupportchronicgoalrclatcdactir,'ity'.
As I havcstatcdrcpcatcdll'. strcssaccumulation appcarsto hc the resultol'our overuseo1'
our cllbrtlirl.ob.iectivc and narrowlvlocusedconcentration. Our habitol'cxclusivcnarrow
lircuseo d b . j c c t i vaet t c n t i o ni t s el l ' p r c v c n t tsh c n a t u r apl r o c c s os l ' n u r m a l i z a t oonl ' p h y s i o l o g i c a l
fr-rnction and releaseo1'stress. []iastowardcerlainlbrmsol'attentionintcrtbrcswith a birthright.
a balanced attentionassociatcd with an ongoingreleascor dillusiono1'stress-tension.
Attcntionalrigidity is rclatcdto thc rctardation or pre'vcntion ol'phy'siological and tncntal
homcostasis. Suchrigidityand its oppositc.attentional llcxibility.arc rcticctcdby
corrcsponding brainwaveactivities.

t5
 ELECTROPHYSIOLOCICAL CORRELATES OF ATTENTION

Certaintypesol'ncuroleedback areparticularly'potcnt sincetheymoredirectlyrcllcct

paramctcrs of attcntion.Whcnwe learnto changcbrainwavc amplitude.lrcqucncyand phasc
synchronyin and amongthe variouslobesof the brain.\\'earedirectlyimpactingthe typeso1'
attentionavailableto us (andnot ncccssarily dependent uponthc contcnto1'ourattention).In rny
view"this irrpacton attcntionstyleis responsiblc lbr the po\\'erol'ncurolecdback to cl'l'ccta
broadrangeol'clinicalsymptomsand hunranlunction.Neurof'ccdback hasthc potentialto
re-establish or enhancethe attentional balanccand flexibilitythatis cruciallbr wcllncss(25).
In thc norrralsocializedindividual.incrcased arousal.associated witli incrcascdbrain
wavc li'cclucncv. rcduccdamplitudc.anddirninishcd wholc brainsynchronyarc connccledwitlr
increased ob.jectivity - separateness andnarrowedscopcol'attention.Oppositely. decreased
arousal.associated with dccreascd liequcncy.incrcascd brainw'avcamplitude" and wholc brain
synclrronyareconnectcdwith incrcascd immersionanda widcncdscopcol-attcntiorr. Opcn
[]ocusattentionis dellnedhercas thc sirnultaneous integration ol-allthe dcscribedstyles
(Quadrants A. B. C and D" l"igurel)ol'attcntion.e.g..a narrowabsorption ernbedded in a
'l'his
dilluseob.iectivity. lcprcscnts an intcgratcdlilrnrol' attcntion" in which we pcrccivcthc
wliolc lrcld ol-availablc cxpcricnccwhilc ccntcringuponu,hatis rclcvantor mostirnportant.
l'his firrrnof attcntionis associated with differentcombinations o1'amplitudc. liequencyand
syttchrorty ol'brainwaveactivity'tlianweredescribed abovercgardingstrongbiaseslirr
individr-ral attcntionstylcs. In gcncral.high licqucncyactivity'isnlrrc cclLrally and
simultaneously prcsentand ridingon. or rnodulating. lou' lrequenci, activitr as we trove toward
Opcn lrocusattcntionandaway liom rnorcsingularbiascsol'attcntion.(ireaterattentiorral and
brainwavc llcxibilityor stability'. as altcnratclyappropriatc. arc associatcd with cxccptional
p c r l r l r n t a n cacn d I u n c t i t l n .
Irigure? presents the relationship ot'attention stylesto arousalandphysiological. pcrccptualand
beliaviorallunction-perlbrrnancc. A narrowregionon the X-axis.marked"arclusal portal."
dcnotcsthc optimurnlcvcl ol'arousalat whichthc variolrsstvlcsol'attcntionarelnostintcgratcd.
i.e."simultaneously andequally'prcscnt.rcsultingin higherlevelsof overall
I unction-perlbrnrance.
I)erliaps othcrtccliniqucs. suchas Kanriya'sphenonrcna-nrind rnappingproccdurcs (cl-7).
nrayshowthatdil-luseand imrlcrscdstylesol'erttention arenot appnrpriately represented by thc
samecurve. Sirnilarsmalldivergences may alsobe shownlbr narrowand ob.jective stylesol-
a t t c n t i o n I. l o w c v c r .p c r h a p ds u ct o s o c i a l i z a t i oonr t o g c n e t i c a l ldye t c r n i i n cpdh y s i o l o g i c a l
lactors.it is rny obscnationthat lbr pcoplcol'Wcstcrnculturcthc x-axisplaccnrcnt ol'thc curvcs
fbr narrowandob.iective stylesaremorelike eachotherthantheyareto eitherditluseor
irnmersed styles.Similarly.thecurveslbr diflusedandirnrncrsed stylesarc nrorclikc cachother
thantlieyareto eithernarrow'orob.jcctive styles.Irorthc sakcol'simplicity.thcrclbre.similar
attcntionstylesare represented in Figurc2 by the samecurve.

l6
 STYLESOF ATTENTION

Djffuse-lmmcrsgd Di&se-Objective Nasatl&xoerscd Narrq-w0bJslljyg

LxruUle. MeditationExagple:Panoramic ExAnpls'lmmersed ExampleLion
with mind unself- view in a "symphony in enjoyment, stalkingprey
conscious& body of sensoryexper- amplifiedby a Iimergency College
at rest Most ience" Objective narrow fiocusto exam Obsessing on
rapid nornrali- sensations hang intensify& savor work to narrowfocus
zation. Sleep suspended in the experience En- awayfrom(deny)an
Most relaxed midst of a diffuse rapturedthinker emotionalproblem
awareness of space Decp massage mind
Self-conscious
Playingin a band recipient & bodyhighlytoned

Effects:Para- E_fircS Relativc Effects:Relative bllaqto Sympathetic

sympatheticnervous sympathetic & para- sympathetic - neryoussystem domr-
svstemdominance. sympathetic bal- parasympathetic nance Higharousal
Low arousal. ance Moderate balance.Moderate andadrenaline
Rrght brain arousal Relativc arousal I-eft- Left braindominant
dominate lell-righthemis- nght hemisphere I;lightor fight
Drifting into pherebalance. balance.Alert
sleep. Relaxedalert relaxed.

Eb_G:Low frequen- EEG Middle fre- EEG: Middle fre- E[,G HiShfrequen-
ciesdominantat quenciesdominant quenciesdominant ciesdominantat low
high amplitude in amplitude in amplitude amplitudeover-all
Most whole brain Moderatewhole Moderatewhole Leastwhole brain
synchrony brainsynchrony brainsynchrony synchrony

Itrngeof
- ModcrrtcArourll {
AroucrlPortrl

Sleep r
Physicel I
Normdizrtion ?
r
[-ow Eigh
Arousel Arousel

Mental & AutonomicNormrlizetion

AttcntiondBrhncc

t7
 'l'he
betwccnattcntionstyleandph,vsiological
relationship andexpcricntialarousalis
reciprocal.By emphasizing narrow'andob.iective stylesone is propelledtow'ardhigherlevelsof
arousal.As narrowandob.iective dimensions of attentionincrease in proporlionand persist.one
approachcs cnlcrgcncy-paniclcvclso1'arousal. On the othcrl-rand.l'rycrlphasizingdilluscand
immerscddimensions ol'attentionone'sarousalleveldeclines.ultirnatelyapproaching sleep.
Thus.by intentionallybalancingor ernphasizing attentionstylesone may consciously learnto
controland stabilizearousaller,'el
to a signilicantdegree. Converscly. by variousmcans.suchas
physicalactivity.nrcditation.
rcst.dict.call-cinc.brcatliingratc.drugs.ctc..changingarousal
'fhus.
levelmay influencethe relativepresence or emphasisof attentional styles. the relativc
emphasis ol-attentional
stvlesimpactsarousal.andarousallevelmay afl'cctthe relativc
proportionur cnrphasisol-attcntional stylcs.

A R O T I S A LP O R T A L

In thc rcgionmarkcd"arolrsalportal"in l:igurc2. thcrccxiststhc potcntiallirr an

'l'hc
importantrcarrangcment of combinations of attcntionstyles. balanceof narrow-ob.icctivc
versusdifluse-irnmersed attentionstylesshifisbackand lbrth.r-rsually dctcnnincdby monrcntary
attcntionbiascs.extcrnaland internalscnsoryanddiet lactolsinrpacting arousaldcscritrcd
a b o v ca . n dt h en e e dl i r r d i l l u s i o no l ' t c n s i o n a n do t h c rp h y ' s i c ar cl l l c c t i o nos l - s t r e s sI.n t h e
"art)usal portal"region.wherethenarrowandob.lcctir"e attentiondinrcnsions arc prcscntin
approxinrate equalbalanccwith thc ditluscand immerscdattcntiondirrrcnsions. thcrcis thc
p o t c n t i alli r r a r c s t r u c t u r i nogl ' a t t c n t i odni n r c n s i o nt h
s a ti s i n h c r c n t l ryn o r ci n t c g r a t cadn ds t a b l c
in arousalthanbefbre.In the restructured firrm.one may becorneaw'areo1'anarrow-inrmcrscd
attentionin the centcrol'awareness which is sirnultancclusll, surrounded and permeated by a
di li use-ob.jcctivc attcntion.
l-his translbrnrcd attentionis clfirrtlcssandallowsthc dillusiono1'strcss as it occurs.and.
'l'his
therefirre. is selt'-balancing and stabilizingin phvsiologicarousalby its nature. transfornrcd
attcntionstructurcis not drivenout ol'balancebccauscstrcssdocsnot and cannot accut-nulatc
sinccnarrow-ob-iectivc ltterttiortis l.r()ter-npliasized at thc cxpcnscol'dil'lLrsc-inrr-nerscd attctttiott.
lrachrcstructured pair o1'attention st1'les. narrow-inrrnersed or diflusc-ob.icctivc attcntion.
appcarsto represent the simultaneous lunctioningo1'combincd s;-mpathctic and parasympathetic
proccsscs alongwith cclLral actir,'ation ol'lcli and right brainhcmisphcrc proccsscs.On thc
contrary.thc morc r.rbicluitous lirrnisol-paircdstylcsol'attcntion. narrow-ob.icctir,c or
dilluse-irnmersed. appearto be represented by a predominance o1-onlysyrnpathctic and leli
hcniisphe re or. alternate ly. only'parasyrnpathetic and right hernisphelic processes.respcctivcly.
'l'hat
is. narrowand ob.jcctivc attcntionappcarto be bothsyrnpathctic and lcli henrisphcrc
dorninated processes. and like a sccsa\\'. alternate in predominance w'ithdifflse and immersed
'l'hus.
attcntionwhich areparasyrnpathetic and rightherrisphcrc dorlinatedproccsscs. the
translorrned versionol'attentionresultin rrorc stablenrid-rangc arousaland is associatcd with
morc stableandoptimuntlunctionand perfbrmance. It represcnts greaterintegration of'tlie
'l'he
activityol'bothherr.rispheres in simultaneously reflectingsequential and parallelproccssing.
translormed contbinations o1'attcntion supportsa w'idcrangeol'positivccllccts.li'orn
rcnrcdiation and prcvcntionof symptomsto thc optimization of function.It alsosuppttrlsan
on-goingsenseofwell being.energ)'andacceptance ofexperiencc.The arousalportal

l8
rcprescnts tlic gatew'av to rnoresubtleand integratcd rcaliticsw'hicharerlediatcdby thc abovc
described transtbrmed attentionstylecombinations.(Seecompanionarticlefbr furthcrdctails.
29.\
Irigure? surnnrarizcs the lbur ma-iorstyleso1'attcntion. andthcir variousinllucncesuponthc
'l'he
nervoussystern. arousal level and EIrG characteristics. centerrnoderate rangeo1'tliearousal
continuumsupportsattentional balanceandOpenFocusattcntion.A mostsignificantdistinction
betweentranslbrmed attentionandmoreordinarylbrmsis the prcscnccin the lbnnerol'a
'l-his
cortscious ovcr-w'itncss o1'lirritlcssscnsor)cxpcricncccxistingin spacc. broadly
grounding a n db a l a n c i r tcgx p c r i c n cscu p p o r tist s o w n c o n t i n u a n caen dg e n e r anl r e n t aal n d
'l'he
autonomicbalance. readcrmav becomeaw'areo1.andrealizea personalexperience o1'each
ol' thc dcscribedattentional stylcs.

THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCEOF

A T T E N T I O N V E R S U SI T S C O N T E N T

As I havcstatcdprcvior-rsl1'. usingr,'arious lbrmsol'trlrG biolccdbackonc lcarns

altcrnativcwayso1'rclating to experience. alternatcwayso1'processing infbrmation:that is. one
lcarnsdillcrcnt ways ol'payingattcntion.rcgardlcss ol'whatthc contcntol'atterrtion rnaybe.
'l'his
o b s c r v a t i oins o n co l ' t h cr n o s ti n r p o r t a npto i n t so l ' t h i sp a p c r .l t i s t h i sc n r p h a s iusp o nt h c
rcle ol'attcntionthat Idivergesigniticantlyliom mainstrearn view'salreadydescribed.Once
h a v i r r gr e - l e a r n eadt t en t i o n a l l e x i b i l i t ya. p p r o p r i a tact t en t i o ns t y l e so l ' o u ro w n c h o o s i n gc a n
lcadto rrorrralizatiorr ilnd rclaxationas a sidccll'ect"again.no ntattcrw'hatthc contcntsol'
attcntionnraybc. On thc contrarv"otheroppositeand rigidly flxatedattcntionstyleso1'ourown
choosingcan leadto thc crcationandaccumulation ol'strcssandtensionand preventtheir
dillirsion.againtto mattcrwhatthc contcntsol'attcntionmay bc. Most signilicantll'.lrccdonr
liom thc tyrannvol'any or all contcr.tt ol'our attcntior-r" ph1'sical. cogrritir,'c. cnrotiorral. is ir
signilicantbcncfltot'training attcntional flexibiIity.
'l'his
point.thatthc wa)' wc attcndto cxpcricnccis at lcastas inrportant as the cxpcricncc
itscll.rcprcscnts a signilicantdcparturcli'onrprcdorrinantll'contcnt oricntcdthcrapicswhich
prcscntlyabound.In thc traditionalr,'ievn'. catharsis andhcaltlircquircsthc rclcascinto conscit'rus
awareness ol'previouslyhiddencontent. I'hccrnphasis is uponthecontent.SigmundIireud
a s s c r t ctdh a ti n h i b i t i o nos r b l o c k a g e sw.h i c hc r c a t cs t r o n gl c c l i n g so l ' a n x i c t ya n do t h c rc r i p p l i n g
bchavior(collectivclylabclcdncuroscs). couldbc rcmovcdonly'bl' uncovcringand
understanding repressed contentthroughintensiveanalysisol'accidcntal slipsol'thc tonguc.
nlcrnorylapscs.drcamsand cspcciallycxpcricnccs liorn carlychildhood.
In thc vicw cspor-rscd in this papcr.the contentol'attcntionis not all-irnportant.
Consideration of attention.itself.bothin therapyand in daily lif-e.is at leastas importantas
contcnt.In lact.boththe repression and subsequent release o1'trauma-rclatcd contcnt.rcsult
'l'hat
li'orl thc usc.and latcrsuspcnsion o1'usc" of spccilicattcntionstylcs. is. thc rclcasco1'
contcntinto awareness dependsuponthe releascor disuscof thoscspecificattentionstyles
w'hichhadpreviouslyservedas the mechanism o1-reprcssion. It is preciselythroughchanging
our attention.i.c..an increase in attentional llexibility.thatwe areablcto accessrepressed
contcnt.It is throughthc chroniccompulsir,'c uscof specificattentionstyles(cspccially
narrow-ob.lective attention)appliedto specificcontent.thatthe mentaland physicalproblems

l9
connectcdwith ncuroticand moredramatically dissociative dy'slunctions arecreated.
To brieflytakcthe extremeoppositepositionto the traditionalview'.afierappropriatc
attentiontrainingone might regaina lunctionalcapacityw'hichdependsw'hollyuponnewly
rcgaincdattcntionalllcxibility'.Rcmarkably. this ma)'occurcvcnwithoutthc rclcascinto
awarcncss ol'thatspcciliccontcnt u'lrich initiallysparkcdthc attcntionalrigidityassociatcd with
avoidance or repression andconsequent functionalincapacitl'.This observation pointsto the
dcpendence ol'repression and relatedinhibitions.includingrcsultantdepression and anxiety.
uponspecilicstylcsol' attention.
This dcpcndcncc is furthcrhighlightcdby thc factthatit is not unusuallbr contcntto bc
released or rcmcmbcred withoutresultantintcgration and increase ol'attcntional llcxibility.
Rcmcmbcring rnay.in lact.occurand produccrc-sensitization and incrcascdliagrrcntationduc
to thc repression ol'relcascdrnatcrial. as in thetraumaticllashbacks ol'war vcteransandassault
v i c t i m s .I ) a i l y r e c o l l e c t i o nosl ' l e s se x t r e m e v e n t ss. u c ha s i n s u l t sa n dd i s a p p o i n t n r c nnt sr a. y
alsorcsultin rc-sensitization and li'agrnentation whenrcprcsscd.Onc ol'mv carlyclicnts.a
wonranin hcr lirrtics.w'ouldrelapscfirr protracted pcriodscaclttirnethc visr-ral nrcnroryol'hcr
f-atlrcr's shotgunsuicidcsurf'accd in hcr awarcncss.IIowcvcr.as prcviouslydescribed.
appropriatc attentionskillswill supportintegration anddesensitization ol'released r.naterial (scc
a l s os c c t i o nc n t i t l c dD I S S O L V I N G I ' > I I Y S I C A AL N D l l M O ' l ' I O N A L P A I N l i r ra t t c n t i o n a l
nrcthodsol' irrtcgration of rclcascdrriatcrial ).
1'hepositionrccommendcd hcrcrcprcsents a svnthesis betu'ccnthc abovcstatcdcxtrcmc
vicws. As cvcry cxpcricnccd andel'fcctivctalk thcrapistknows.a purclyintellcctualcxploration
ol'newlycnrcrgedcontentissucsis inadcquate and usuallyreprescnts anothcrlirrm ol'dcl'cnsc
againstfull releaseinto awareness. Irullreleasewouldandcouldonlv occurwhena
narrow'-o[-r.jective filrm ol'attentionto thoughtsor to otherexperience is tcrnporarily
d c - c m p h a s i z c dI n. s i g h tu. n a c c o n r p a n i[cr d y ' ab r o a ds p c c t r u rrnn u l t i - s c n s o(riyn c l u d i n g
cnrotional)and intirrtatc awareness is discouragcd. as thethcrapistcnc()uragcs a nrorcconrplctc
and lirlly integrated cxpericncc.Suchcxpandcdcxperiencc o1'contcnt is only achievcdwhenall
'l'his
a t t c n t i o ns t y l c sa r ca c c c s s i b li en d i l ' i d u a l lay n ds i r n u l t a n e o u s l l ' . l l e x i b i l i t yi s r n o r el i k e l yt o
r c s u l tl i o m d c l i b c r a tuc t t c n t i o n t r a i r r i r rtgh a nf i o r nu n a i d c dd. a i l yc' x p c r i c n c c .
'l'he
shiftingof attcntionstylcs.w'henintcntionalll'uscd as partof the paticntand
therapiststrategicarmanrcntariunr. lacilitates theoccurrence and subsequcnt intcgrationol'
insiglits-rclcascs associated with theconrbincduscol'attcntional andcorrtcr.rl oricntcdthcrapy.
An arntarncntarium thatconrbincs contentcxplorationrviththc voluntarl'ernployrnent ol-learncd
attentionskillsis moreell'ectivethaneitheralone. Ncithcrcontcntnor processis sacrillced.but
rathcr.botharc dynamicallycngagedto supportf ull rclcascand subscqucnt optirnization ol'
Iunction.Irixation.rigiditl'.ohsessior-r. rcpression. dcpression" resistancc. attachnrcnt.
detachment. loneliness. addiction.inhibition.neurosis" anxiety' andotherreactions to the
contcntsof'attcntion. which aretriggeredandsupported by bio-psycho-social-spiritual l'actors.
'l'hc;-
arc not suppurtcdin an cnvironnrcnt ol'l'lexiblcattcntion. arcellcctsol'ovcr-uscdor rigid
attcntionalstylcs.
A f'arnous quotationo1'Descartes suggcsts an attentional andcontentbiasof his and our
t i m e . l l c s a i d" l t h i n k .t h c r c f b r cI a n l . " I ) a r a p h r a s i h n igs w o r d sa n du s i n gt h c l a n g u a goc l - t h i s
papcrhe might havesaid"l p"y attentionto my thoughts. therelorcI arn." Again paraphrasing.
to reliecthis positionhe mightalsohavesaid."l arnaw'arethatI pay attentionwith a narrow

20
ob.iective awareness to rny variousthoughts. therelbreIarr." In this deljnitionul-"scll''noticc
thatDcscar-tes did not includercfbrcnccto the othcrscnses. seeing.hearing.feeling"etc. He only
rcf-crrcdto thinking.
'l'his
papcrsuggests a dcllnitiono1'sell'which is moreinclusivethanthatol'Descarte and
o t h c r sa. n dw h i c h docs i n c l u d c
h i s s i n g l cs c n s ed c l l n i t i o n .O u r m o r ci n c l u s i v cd e l i n i t i o ni s t o
wit. "l am an awareness of how'l pay attentionto all the contcntsof all modcso1'myattention.
-l'hat
thcrclbrcIan1." is. "l am awarcequallywell andotiensimultaneously o1'thevariousways
I pay attcntionand thcir variouscontents(sights.sounds.t.:clings.tastes.snrclls.thoughts.scnsc
ol'timeand the awareness o1'space into u'hichtheycomeinto being.f'loatand sul'rsequently
dilluse).andtherefbreI an1."

CONTENT - ATTENTION INTERACTIONS

l.Jpto this point I havccmphasizcd thosecasesin which the processI havctcrmcd

'l'hc
attcntionstylcimpactsour physiology.pcrccptionand bcha'u'ior. clucstior-r rcn-rains "What is
thc irnpactof content.thc contcntof attention. uponthc attcntionproccssitsell.andvicc vcrsa'/"
I n t h i sc o n t e x tt.h ec o n t c not 1 ' a t t e n t i oi nnc l u d e a s p p a r e n t l y ' s t a(tei c. g . .a w a r c n e s s p . acc)and
dynamic ( c . g . .
c v e rc h a n g i n g s c n s c w
o b . i c c t sc )x p e r i e n c e i t h i nthcscopc o l ' a t t e n t i o n .
'l'hc
proccssol'attentionand its contcntcananddo. in lact.inllucncccachotlicr. Onc
i m p a c to l ' t h i sm u t u a li n l ' l u c n c ci s t h a ta t t e n t i o cna nb e p o o r( i . e . .p o o rc o n t r o o l l'direction.
b r c a d t ho l ' s c o p ca. b s o r p t i o no.b . i e c t i v i t y 'sotra b i l i t y ' o l ' a t t c n t i ol or r )s p c c i l i cc o n t c n t .I t n r a yb c
'l'his
poor lirr onc contcr.rt. proccssor rangcol'bchaviorsandbcttcrlirr othcrs. incclLrity rnaybc
t h er e s u l o t l'genetia c n dh i s t o r i c al l' a c t o rssu c ha st h ea b u n d a n coer l a c ko l - a d e q u a t rea i n i n g .
incidcntalclassicalconditioning. diet.localbraininjurl'.geneticl'actors. localncuralrnaturation
'l'lie
dillercnccs.or othcrmcchanisn-rs. ovcr-lcarning ol'perlilrmancc is usuallynccessary lirr
s c c r r i n g l yc l l i r r t l c s sl l o w o l ' b c h a v i oar s s o c i a t ewdi t h e x c c l l e n cicn t h ep c r l o r m i n ga r t s .h i g h
l c v e la t l i l e t i c so.r e x c e p t i o n a lc t i r , i t yi n a n yo t h e ra r e a .W h a ti s l e s so b v i o u si s t h a tt h i s
ovcr-learning is necessarl, to bringaboutcriticalattentionchanges andassociated local
physiologica ch l a n g c sw. h i c hn r a k cp o s s i b l teh es u p p o rot l ' o n g o i n gp c a kp c r l i r r m a n c cO. n c
localrcgiono1-thcbrainrnal'.morcthananothcr.rcadily'pcrmit orcngcndcrthcstylcso1'
attcntionthataccompany peakperlbrrnance o1'aspecilictypeor in a spccilicarcaol'study. ln
tliatcasc.wc niightsaythata pcrsorlis "a natural."or hasa gili lirr attcndingor rclatingto and
usingcontcntsuchas mathor nrusicor wordsor goll-.
I haveobscrvedthatcertaingeneralell'ectso1'thecontento1'attcntion arcquitepowcrlul.
Iiur exarnplc.high spirits.laughterand humorcanlrc associated with largechangesin lrrain
-I'hc1,can
wavc activity. havca pow'crlulcfl-ccton amplitudc.lrcquency'and synchrony.IIumur
is associated with surpriseanda suddenshifi fiom a narrowlylbcuscd.ob.iective. gripping
attentionto contcnt.to a morebroadandabsorbcd attcntionand a concornitant releascol'
attentionrclatcdtension.IIumor.and particularlyspontaneolrs laughtcr.invariablyaccontpany
'l'hc
suddcnchangcsin attentional stylc. act o1-being surpriscd. a suddenrelease of
attcntion-related tcnsionand pleasant energy.goesalongwith an increase in amplitudeo1'alpha
and highcrlicqucncies.In this vicw. laughterandhunrorindicatcthecxistence o1'accrtain
capacitylbr attentional llcxibility.a prirnccorrclatcof mcntal.phy'sical and spiritualhealth.
On otheroccasions I haverecordedthe brainwaveactivity'o1'persons duringreaction

21
timc studicswhcn thc spcciliccontentof the triggeringstinruluswas loudand exceptionally bricl'
click. One karateinstructor. a 4th degreeblackbelt.standsout in rny recollection.The stirnulus
he responded to was a loud click thatofientriggeredan orientingresponse andan expcricncco1'
surprise. which was associated with a suddenshili o1'attention stylcsandconcomitant brain
'I-hc
wavc changcsll'otnllvc brainrecordingloci. karatcinstructorw'as poiscd to closca switch.
while maintainingan abdomen-centered andopenfbcusedreadiness.In reactionto content(the
click).the dor.ninant liequcncyol'brainu'aveactivity'almost alwaysoccurredat multiplesol'10
'l'hc
I l z . b e g i n n i n gi n a s l i t t l ea s f l 7 m i l l i s c c o n dasl i c rt h c o c c u r r c n cocl ' t h cs t i n r u l u s . l i r s t c trh c
reactiontime.the higherthc amplitudeandfiequency'(1ioni l0 to'10or moreF{z)of the lrllG lbr
2Io 4 wavcs. In eachcaseof'rapidreactiontime.a briel-shilto1'attention emphasis was
reportcd.lionr generallydilluscandob.iectirc. to quitcnarrowand inrmersed ar.rd thenrapidly
backagain.like a broadbearl o1'lightconvcrgingon a transparent lcnsand thcnsprcading out
againon thc othcrsidc.
'l'his
s a m ck a r a t ci n s t r u c t ot ro u c h c do n a p a r t i c u l ai rn t c r e sot 1 ' r n i n eI.l c s p o k co l ' b c i n g
a b l ct o o b s c r v ct h c r h y t h n o r l ' h i so p p o n c n t I. l i s g o a l .a s h c p u t i t . w a st o o p c nh i s a w a r c n c stso
includcliis opponent's rhythnr.by not beingfbcuseduponspccillcstimuli.that is"by stayingin
opcn lbcus. At thc instanthis opponentcornmitsto an action.he uscsthatcncrgyand action.
t l r a tc o n t c not l ' h i so u t t u t t c r t t i ( ) tr(1)t. r i g g c rh i s u w n a t t c n t i o n aaln dp h y s i c arlc s p o n s ea.t l c a s ta t
'fhis
tu'iccthc spccdol'liis opponort'srhy'thnr. w'asa wcll practiccdrcspoltsc.lt mightcxplain
'l'hc
w.hythc "goodguy" in the mor,'ies alwayswaitslbr thc badgu1'to draw flrst. karate
instructorand the rr-rovic goodguy havein cornmonthatthcl' let spccilicstirnuli"generated by
thcir oppotrcnt. triggcra changcin thcir ow'nattcntionwith rcsultant "twice as last" phvsical
'['his
reactions. f'aster rcactionwins thc day. Hc callcdit "cuttinghis opponcnt's rhythnr."
Work w'iththis karateblackbclt andnumerousobservations ol'othcrsand manypcrsonal
cxpcricnccs havesolidillcdrny interestin what I havecomcto call thc "ll'an-rc or packctratc
hypothescs."Whenactivityis lllmedat l(r ll'anrcs pcr second (lps) and thcnplaycdbackat l6
lps.thcnactionappearsnormal. Whenplal'edbackat a sklwerspeed.e.g. l2 lps.actionappears
'l'hc
slowcrand whcn playcdbackat a lasterspccd.c.g..20 lps.actionappcarsl'aster. sarncis
'l'his
truc ol'it trorrnalvoicc rccot'ding playcdbackat slowcrandlastcrspccds. playbackanalogy
p r c s c n tas l i r n i t c dl l c l d o l - p o s s i b i l i t i cr esg a r d i nsgp c e do l ' i n l b n n a t i o tnr a n s l n i s s i opnc. r c c p t i o n
and actionsincebotlitlie acquisitionpackagerateper second(APRS)ol'inlbrrnationor data.thc
ratcol'awarcncss pcr sccond(RnS) andthc ratcol'rcsponse ol'ph1'sical action(lll)AS) rnay
havethc potcntialto vary indcpcndcntly'.
Many individualshavereportedoccasions w'hcnattcntionhascfl'cctcdthc specdol'
pcrccivcdactir,'ity. whcn tirncscenrsI'astor slclw'. whcnthcrcis cxtrulor rrntcuoughtin-rcto rcact.
I arl rcrnindco d l - ac o l l i s i o nw i t h a N c w ' Y o r k( ' i t v t a x i c a bc a r l l ' o n cs p r i n gc v c n i n g .O u r
vehiclewas struckin the driver'sdoor.shattering thc windou,.As the smallpiecesof sal'ety
glass.shininglike diamondsin the glareol'manyheadlights. passedme slowly in the passenger
scat.it appcarcdto mc thatI hadall thc timc in the world to scizcany individualpicccol-glassI
dcsircd.It is interesting to askwhich cxtcmalconditionstriggcrthcscpcrccptions.But it is
evenmoreintcrcstingto askwhich internalandattentional processcs supportthc onsetand
maintcnance ol-thescphenornena.
I l a r l i e r e s e a r c(h3 . 4 . 5 ) s u p p o r t tsh ep o s s i b i l i ttyh a tt h c a c q u i s i t i opna c k e rt a t cp c r
second(APRS)of visualinfbrmationcanapproximate a fi'equenclol'100 Hz or more.

))
-fraditional
research suggests thatthc rateo1'aw'areness/cognition (RAS) is abouttcn pcr sccond
(32. 33. 34). The aboveobservations takcntogethersuggest thatelectrophysiological activitv
may existindependently fbr attcntion.its contentand fbr the witnessingselfwhich is awareo1-
attcrttionand its content.(Sccdiscussion associated ll'ith lrigurc3 andcontpanion articlclirr
f u r t h e rd e v e l o p m c n2t .8 .)
In general.contentof attention. whethcrit is a pleasant or unpleasant imageor thoughtor
a lbelingor an emotion"or a soundor a tastcor a smell.or a limitedcombination ol'scnsc
cxpcricnccs. doesnot inhcrcntll'producc.or rcquirca changcin attcntion.With appropriatc
training.it rnayhe possiblcto bringan1'ofthe availableattentional sty'lcsto rclatcto. or proccss
any contcntol'attention. pleasant or unpleasant. While specilicpastconditioningor training
rray havcbrouglitinto bcingspccilichabituallirrmso1'attcntion in rcsponscto larniliarcontcnt.
'l'his
onc may lcarnto bringothcrtbrmsol'attcntioninto bcing. is an inrportantpoint.
'l'he
f'actis thatevenwhencertainfcclings.cr-r-rotions orother sensoryexperience tendto
be presentwitli tlic adoptionol-spccilicattcntional sty'les. thiscr-rnnection neednot be permancnt
and rnaybe dc-conditioncd ur un-lcarncd.A l'ccling.cmutionor otherspcciliccontcntnccdnot
neccssarilv bringabor-rt or signil_lthc prcscncco1'aspecilicattentional st1'le. altlioughit nray
p r e s e n t ldy o s o . A n a t t e n t i o n as lt y l ca l s on c c dn o t n e c e s s a r i l y ' b r ianhgo u to r s i g n i l yt h c
p r c s c r l cocl ' a s p c c i l i cc o n t c not l ' a t t c n t i o na.l t h o r " r gi tl n, r a yi n i t i a l l yd o s o . A n y c x t r c r r co l - s u c l r
i n v a r i a b i l i tiys t h c s t u l l ' o l ' n c u r o t i c i sarnndd y s l u n c t i o nI.n r n y v i e w .a s i g n i l i c a npt e c u l i a r i loy l '
variouscurrenttherapies is the linritedaw'arcncss o1'attentional processes. and speciticallythe
'l'his
l i n r i t c da w a r c n c sosl ' t h cr i g i d i t l 'o r i n l l e x i b i l i t yo l - c x i s t i n a
g t t c r . r t i o n - c t ) nrtcclnatt i o n s h i p .
lack ol-awarcncss lcadsto a losso1'oppurtunity lbr catharsis and rcsultingintprovcrncnt ol-
lirnction.Iiurther"sinccthcrcis a signiticantattcntionc()r'uponent to r-nost diseascs or disordcrs.
diagnosticand statistical manualswoulddo well to addrcssand includethe role ol'attentionin
causingand rnaintaining symptonrs.We invariablyobscrr,'c tliis wlien wc tcachclicntsto opcn
thcir lircusatrdnortnalizctheirphvsiologywhilc thinkingpreviouslydisturbingthoughts.

T I I E E L E C T R O P H Y S I O L O G I C A LA N D A N A T O M I C A L C O R R E L A T E S
O F A T T E N T I O N . I T S C O N T E N T A N D A S E N S EO F S E L F

While wholebrainUE(i paramctcrs rcllcctgcneralattentional stylc.the intcractivc

cl'l'ccts itt contigt"rous loci ol'lrlr(i activitl'maybe quitcrclcvantto thc lirnctionol'spccilic
proccsscs o1'attctttion andcontcntsof attention.Practicing w'holcor localhrainsynclrrony(scc
earliersection)"fbr example.canreleaseinto awareness recentor long lbrgottenrnemories and
othcrvil'id matcrial.In ourcxpcricncc.theattentional contentol'thismaterialis rclatedto tlie
'l'his
corticallocationol'individualnronopolar rccordingsensors. obscrvation lcd to a
consideration o1'possible physiological mechanisms fbr how'llexiblyw'carc ablcto graspand
rclcasethc variousscnscob.iccts o1'ourattention.I'rcviousobscrvations ir-rour laboratoryof thc
u b i c p r i toyl ' s p c c i l i cp h a s cr c l a t i o n isn r a w I : l : G a n do l ' t h cc a s eo l ' t r a i n i n go l ' p h a s er e l a t i o n s
havesuggested and supported thc followingproposed mechanism (12. l6). It is proposedthat
attentionitsell-isrepresentcd by one phasco1'coherent brainwaveactivityin a brainregionand
its contcntis represented by anothcrpl-rasc o1'coherent activity'ina conncctcdor cotrtiguous
brainrcgion. J'wo wavcsarc dcflncdas coherentw'hcnthcy maintaina stablephascrclationship
with eachother. In general.certaindistributions of brainsynchronl, represent the processo1'

L-'\
attcntion"and the contentsol-attention
arerepresented by otherinteracting distributions
o1'
synchronous coherentactivity.w'hicharehoweverasynchronous (but still cohcrcnt)with thc first
distribution.Moreover.thesetwo distributions of asynchronousbrainactil'ityinteractwith cach
otlicrto producea third derivcdactivity. Figurc3 presents
a sinipliticdvcrsiorrol'thispostulatc.

't,C E
"'iz6c-
^ ,/i

(t r'.<),s
'$'c
)t

A, A:

Cr Cz

5' S:

EXAfiPI.E I I EXAXPLE I 2 EXAHPLE I 3

Figurci: lhe proporcd pharr uochanir! lor !l..xi,bl. cr.rtion,

rrlntananca and d!aaolution of tha turctionel !.prr!tj,on
batv..n thr.. proc.rr.r: th. q9nltntll of att.ntlon (th.
obJ.ct, C), AllLOl.iCD lt!.1.f (th. tubJ.ct, A) rnd th.lr
r.latlonrhlp to | 3.nr. of llll (s).

'l'lie
proccssol-zrttcntionand thc contcntsol'attention"are rcprcsentcdin Figurc 3 by lirnctionally
'l'his
scparateparts of the brain (A and C'respcctively). lunctional.rathcr than anatortric.process
ol'separationol'ad.jaccntbrain sitesis servedby thc ntechanismol'phaseasynchrottybctwcen
t h c c o h c r c n t( i . e . .b y c q u a l l r c q u c n c y ' a n dp h a s el o c k c d )a c t i v i t ) ' o l ' s i t c sw h i c h i n t c r a c tw i t h c a c h
other. This hordcring processneed not onlf inr,'olvcactual spatialcontiguity and nccd not only
involvc volume conductionas thc prcscntsimplitied examplemay scem tctportray. C'ontiguity
nray bc rcprcscntedin a rr.rcdiating structurcto r,l'hichboth A and (' pro.jcct(30). In this vicw.
thc brain regionsor cell assernblies w'hich representthe attcntionprocess(A. hereaficralso
rel'erredto as the sub.ject). nlust operate at least somewhat or1-o1'-phase with the brain regions or
ccll assen-rblics which represcntthe contentsol'attention(C'.herealicralso called thc ob.iect)in
ordcr lbr ob.jcctive attcntionto occur. Within the separateregionsof the sub.iectand thc ob.lect"
their individual functional integrity'as a unifred entity'is supportedand maintainedby in-phase

24
activity(a specialfbrm ol'cohcrcnce) in all of its parts.As shownin the wavepatternsol'Figr-rre
3. the activityof all regionso1-theob.iect marked"C" arein-phaseu'ith eachother. Thc activity
ot'all regionsmarked"A" arealsoin-phase with eachother. However.the activitycll'"A" may
'l'he
bc in-phascorout-o1'-phasc with thc activitl'of'"C." nrcchanism lirrthe teurporary
establishntcnt and claritl'ol'conscious ob.jective attentioninvolvcsa lirrnr,',1',rr.,1-111--phetsc
coherence betweenthe activit_v o1'thebrainareasassociated with the sub.ject (A) andob.iect(C).
I n t h ev i s u a l l ys i m p l i l i e dv e r s i o nds c p i c t e di n l r i g u r e3 . t h c s c n s eo l ' s e l l - " S "o r w i t n e s so r
(
witncssingaw.arcncss) is shownas an intcrlcrcnccpattcnrarisingout ol'thc interaction ol.
out-of-phase activitl'atthc bordersol'thetwo rcgions.at the sub.iect-ob.iccl interl'ace.In thc
illustrativespecialcase.labeledExarnple#2. theactivitiesof "A" and "C"'(seeA-2 and ('-2) are
showncqualin amplitudcandcxactll'I80' uut-ol'-phase. thusperl'ectly cancellingcachotherat
t h c i ri n t c r l a c c" S " ( s c cl l a t l i n c a t S - 2 ) . A s a r c s u l to l ' t h ca h s e n cocl ' a ni n t c r l - c r c t tacc t i v i t y
pattcrn.the senseol'sell'disappears. A nroreprolbundintegration o1'sub.iect. ob.iect and scll'
(andthus.dissolutionol'scll) occurswhentlie activitl,'inall corticalregionshavethc sarne
p h a s ci.. c . .a r ea l l i n - p h a s oc r s y n c h r o n o uwsi t h e a c ho t h e r( s e eI r x a n r p l#c l o l ' l r i g u r c3 . I n t h i s
casc.tltc distinctionsladc.thc in-phasestructurcs lunctionas a wholc and againno scnsco1'
sr,rb.ject. ob.ject or sell'ismanil'ested in conscious awareness. Othernot quite ltl0oout-ol-phase
r c l a t i o n os l - " A " a n d" C " ' a c t i v i t y ' adse p i c t c di n I : x a n r p l #c 3 o l ' l f i g u r c3 . w o u l dr t o tc a n c eal r t d .
thus.would sLlpport a conscious scnscol-scll.the nrechanisr-n lirr wliich is rcpresentcd by an
intcrl'ercncc patternat thc intcrf-acc betwecn"A" and "C". (SccA-3. ('-3 and intcrl'ace pattern
S - 3 . ) l h c l l e x i b i l i t yo l ' a t t c n t i o tno i n d i v i d u aal n dc o n r b i n a t i o n s o l ' c h a n g i n cgo n t c n i
t s
r , t s s o c i a twc idt h t h c a l t c r n a t sc t a b i l i z a t i oann ds u b s c q u e d net stabilization l ' v a r i o l t sd c g r c c so l ' i t t
'l'his
andout ol-phasccohcrencc. mcchanism is proposed as thc lbundation lortin-rclycver
changingob.lcctive know'ledgc. creativitl,'. perfbrrnancc and.in general.lilc as w'eknow it. along
thc sub.ject-ob.icct intcrl'acc.In lact.it is inconsistcnt with conrmonscnscto cxpcctllcxitrilityol'
attcntion o r l l c x i b i l i t vo l ' t h cc o n t c n t os l ' a t t c n t i o lni o n ra s ) ' s t c rol rl ' a c t i v i t yw h i c hi s p c n n a n c n t l y
u,ircdor phasclocked. Similarly.it is dittlcultto imagincthc dcvclopment of eftcctivcattcntion
or appropriate continuityol'ob.jects ol-attention or senseol'scll'withoutsor.nc abilityto bricl)y
lrx and rriaintain coltercnce lirr a tirlc.
With wholc brainrnultichanncl synchronyneurol'ccdback. heretoltrre buriedcontcnt
'l'hcy
relcasedinto awarcness areaidedin bccomingintegratcd. becon-re cmbcddcdin a
progrcssivcly largcrflcld.onc ol'synchronous brainactivitvassociatcd with onc scnscIttodality
a n dt h c na r c p r o g r c s s i v e l y ' i n c l u di nctdoa b r o a d c lrl e l do f ' a c t i v i t y ' a nadw a r c t t c sosl ' d i l l - c r c n t
sensemodalities. w'iththe background of perception becomingmoreequallyandvividly
availablcwith the lbreground.With training.rnoreinstanccs ol'relcascdvivid recollcctions
occur. Lcarninghow tn bringthcsccxpcricnccs into cvcr largcrllcldsol'prescntcxperience is
valr,rable in ordcrto ditfuscanv associatcd cmotion.tension.painor otherchange.Thus. Irfr(i
and attentiontrainingcan be usedto cnhancelbnns o1'attentiotr thatsupportcatharsis and
subscquently to enhancelbrn-rs ol'attentiontliatsupportthe integration and dillirsiono1'cathartic
matcrial.

D I S S O L V I N GP H Y S I C A L A N D E M O T I O N A L P A I N

Whenour attentionfleld is narrow'.somelimitedsensorycontentfrlls the narrowtleld of

25
o u r a t t c n t i o nB.u t i l ' t h i s l i m i t e d c o n t c n t i st haal lt i s p r e s c n t . t h c n i t wh ial lv e a s t r o n g c r c l l ' c c t
thanwhcn this limitedcontentis imbcddedin a largercontent.I;orexample.a personalremark
may havea strongereffectuponus.bothmentallyandphysically.in narrowfbcusthanin dilluse
lircus. ln othcrwords.dueto a narro\\'styleo1'paying attcntionan1cxpcricnccis a sntallpartol'
our potential cxpcricnccand it is thc totality'ofour aw'arcncss o1-ourexpcricncc.In cclntrast.
whenour overallexpericnce is broaderin scope.the samelimitedsensorycontent(c.g..a
personalremark.heat.cold or pain)is only a srnallportionol'our simultaneously andcqually
'l'hus.
a v a i l a b l cn r u l t i - s e n s oer yx p c r i c n c c . i d e n t i c al li n r i t c dc o n t e n tw. h i c hi s c n t b e d d cidn a
'l'his
w'idcattcntionallleld.hasmuchlcssimpactthanw'hcnit wasnarrowlyfbcuscdupon. is
onc ol'lnanyexamplesot'how'attcntional styleall'ectsthe senseol'intportance we attributeto
Iirnitcdaspcctsol'our cxpcricncc.how it all-ects our bchar,'ioral rcactivitl,andhow attcntional
stylemay irnpactthc physiologyol'thc bcholder.
Onc o1'themostsurprisinglv successful clinicaluscsof attentional f'lcxibilityis in the
'l'issue
dissolutioncll'various typcsol'pain. damage-rclatcd pain.tcnsion-strcss rclatcdpain.and
cnrotionalpainall rlay bc dissolvcdusingaltcrnating attcntionstyles.Appropriatclyshiliing
cmphasisfiont narrou'todillirscand liorn ob.iectivc to absorbed styleso1'attcntion. to thc
l c e l i n g so l ' p a i na n db o d ya n ds p a c cs i m u l t a n e o u s dl vi s. s o l v cesv e nt h em o s te x t r c m cp a i n s( 2 5 .
2 6 . 2 7 . 2 t 1 ) .M o s t t t o t a b l a e n t o n gp a i n st l i a th a v ed i s s o l v c d i n r e s p o r - rtsoct h i st c c h n i q u a crc
t h o s ci n r c l a t i o ttto b i r t h i n gk" i d n c l ' s t o n c si n. t c r s t i t i acly s t i t i sc. n d o n r c t r i o s u
i sl .c c r s i.r r i t a b l c
bowcl syndrome.backpain.hcadaches" colitisandphantomlinrbpain(29). lt is not unusuallbr
t h i sp a i nd i s s o l v i n a gttcntion t c c h n i q Ltroc b r i n ga b o u tl o n gt c r mr c r n i s s i oonl ' s y n t p t o r r sI.n
a d d i t i o ne. r l o t i o n a lp a i n ss u c ha s a n x i c t vp. a n i c d " c p r c s s i o nl c. c l i n g so l ' g L r i l tl .o s sa n d l a i l L r r c
alsohavedissolvcd.While narro\\'lbcused distraction stratcgics havcbecndcscribcdby othcr
rcscarchcrs and clinicians.as a usclulattcntiontcclrnique lbr nranaging pairrandother
cxpcricttcclrarrowlircuscddistraction playsno partin thc paindissolutionproccssdcscritrcd
hcrc. Morc importantly.thc sitnrcattcntionstratcgies uscdto dissolvcpainrnaybc uscd1o
nranage and dissolveany andall scnsoryexperiences with greatereaseand muchlesscostin
stressaccunrulation thanthc chronicuscol'certainattcntionstvlcslirr distraction. avoidancc.
r c n r c s s i oonr d c n i a l .

BRIEF SUMMARIESOF OTJTCOMES

'l'he
rcsearch supportlor thc cllicacyof Illr(i phascsvnchronytrainingand vcrhally
g u i d c da t t e n t i o tnr a i n i n gs p a n sm a n yy e a r s( c f 1 2 .1 4 .l 6 ) . I t b e g a nw i t h m y o w n p c r s o n a l
succcsscs in l9(r7.which w'crcrcproduccd with selcctcdindii,iduals. rnostnotablypcrlirrrning
(cl'12). 'l'hc
artists.athletcsand adr,'anccd nrcditators carlicstcorrtrollcd rcscarchin our
laboratoryat SI.JNYin Stonybrooksuggested that "Ho$'to" instructions of any kind.cvcn il'wcll
understood. signilicantlyhindersvnchronvtraininguntil theseinstructions are integrated and
c r l p l o y c dc f l i r r t l c s s l l ' ( c l ' 1 2l ,.+ ) .A l a t e rc o n t r o l l e b
d i o f ' c c d b a cs kt u d 1 , ' p r o v i dccvdi d c n c ct h a t
phasesynchronybetwecnthe rightand lefi occipitalrccordingsitescouldbe lcarncd.undcr
appropriatc conditions.in lessthantcn tw'o-minute trials(cf 12.11). A controlledbiof'eedback
studyol'rniddlernanagers providedadditionalevidencethatlivc channclphasesynchronycould
be learnedwith sustaincd incrcascs in arlplitudcandon-offcontrol.with andw'ithoutlbedback
(cl l2). Thesechanges\\ereaccompanied by a numberof behavioral and experiential changes.

2(t
which directlypointedto attentionas a primaryvariableassociated with succcssf
ul cln-ofl'
controlof phasesynchrony.Parcnthctically. sincephasesynchronyis a spccialcascof
coherence. it is possiblethatthe attributes w'hichI havetbundto relateto phase
andcorrelations
synchronyarealsoproposcdto appll nloregenerallyto coherence betwccnrccordingloci (c.l'.
F i s u r c s3 a n d4 ) .

27
 'l'hatcher
Brainrnappingor QF.lrGin conjunctionwith the rel'erential databascyiclds
informationregardingthe prcsence of statistically signilicantgreateror lesserthannormal
coherence between various brainsitesin cerlainfrequencybands.In preliminaryexperimcnts.
multi-channcl lrrainwavetrainingo1'phasc increase anddecrcasc inrpactsabnormalcoherencc in
the variousall-ectcd brainsitesin tlie dcsirednormalizingdircction.A strongpersonalsenscol'
well beinghasaccompanied boththe reductionof h1'percohercnce or the increase of coherence
whcn it wasabnomally low (30). lhis lindingsupportsthe proposition thatenhanced llexibility
o r t h c d i s s o l u t i oonl ' r i g i d i t yo r f l x c d n c sos l ' b r a i nw a v ca c t i v i t l ' l e a ddsi r e c t l yt o a s c n s co l - w c l l
being. IIigh or low'coherence is a nra.ior detractorol'well bcing. Otherresearch dcscribcd
p r e v i o u s l (yc l ' 1 2 . 1 4 -l 6 ) l u r t h e r
supportsthc thcsisthatattention I'ABI,E I
und lrrainr,ravcphascactiritr lrrc
directlyrelatcd.A rcccntstudl' tMPROYf,MENT III PHYSIOLOGTCAL VARIABLES

supportsthe positionthatattention PRE-POSTTREA'I'MENT (]OMPARISON OF THE f,XPT:RIMENTAL

VERSUSTTIE COMBINED CONTROL & RAP GROUPS
t r a i n i n gi n c o n j u n c t i ow n ' i t hp h a s c
rclated neurofbedback andothcr I'AI,I, I9E3 SEMESTRR

h i o l l ' c d t r a ct kr a i n i n gi s a r n o s t ExPERIMENIAI' (N't5)

{-t)NI ROL (n=l-1)
powcrlirlvariablein thc MP(N-e)

r er n c d i a t i oonl ' a w i d e v a r i e t yo l '

c l i n i c a sl y n r p t o m(sc f ' 2 5 ) .A CONTROL & RAP
C O N T R O LV S , R A P VS. EXPURIMENTAT,
r c c c n ts u c c c sw s itha mildll'
F P t ' P
autisticchild lirrthcrsLrpports thc YA8IAB-LES
conncctionbctwccnbrain HEART RATE 0 04 8400 34 l7 0001

colrcrcncc and perlirrmance and GSR 0 52 .4744 46 50 0001

w el l - b c i n g( 3 2 ) . 5 19 2 0 0 0 1
TEMPERATURE 2 03 .t637
I n a s c r i c so 1 ' c x p c r i r n c n t s
Br.ooD PRLssuR[ (sYSToLlc) I .]2 2581 50.r2 0001
with collcgcfieshnren. Maria
Valdez(cl'2(r-2tt)rcportcd tsLOODPRESSIJRT (DYASTOLI(I) 0 75 7e24 4'l 49 0001

s i g n i l i c a ni tr n p r o v c r n c n i nt c i g h t EMG (FOREHEAD) 0 s:] 4704 73 e4 O(x)l

t r a i n i n gs e s s i o nbsy c o m b i n i n g lll 2988 23 | | 0001

IMG(TEMPoRALIS)
ncurolccdback. otherlbrnrsol'
LMG (FOREARMS) o 2l 6112 1t 25 0001
biolccdback. and Opcn I'ocus

28
 TABLE 2

IMPROVEMENT IN STR.ESS-REI,ATEDVARIABLES

PRE-POST TREATMENT COMPARISON OF THE EXPERIMENTAL

VERSUSTHE COMBINED CONTROL & RAP GROUPS

FALL 1983Sf,MESTER

EXPERIMENTAL (N=15)
CONTROL (n=13)
MPlrt=91

CONTROL& RAP
CONTROI,VS. RAP VS. EXPERIMENTAL

VARIABLES F P F P

AI!GER
TEMPER OUTBI.'RSTS YOI]
CO{JI-DNOT CONTROL | 60 2148 38 36 0001

A}XIETY: PERFORMAITICE
FEELING ANXIOUS WHIIN
TAKING TESTS 082 3723 8.88 0053

ANXIETY: SOMATIC EXPRESSION

SWIJATING 000 963I 1 85 5 (Xnl

AIT{XIETY: SPEECH
FEELING ANXIOT]S WH].]N
ASKING A QUESTION o74 1969 24.53 0001

ANXIETY: SUBJECTIVE FEELING

FEEI,ING ANXIO1JSWHEN IN A
NEW SOCIAL SITIJATION 0 t4 .'7t26 t 3.82 0007

CARDIOVASC. OR RESP.PROBLEMS
FIENRTRACING l 0l 3220 9 84 0035

CONCENTRATION. MEMORY
TROUBLE REMEMBERING THINGS
IN GENERAL 0 85 3644 23.64 0001

EATINGPROBLEMS
OVEREATING o26 6152 to 2? o03

EMOTIONALPROBLEMS
FIII]I,INGSOTItrRS DO NOT
UNDERSTAND YOU OR ARE
UNSYN,IPATHETIC o 53 .4707 3 16 4 OU)l

GASTROINTESTINAL PROB LEMS

NAUSEA, UPSET STOMACH,
VOMITING | 40 2452 8 59 006

TIDADACHES 0 0 3 . 8 7r 5 14 29 .0006

MUSCLE TENSION
GRINDING OF TEETH 204 t628 1807 0002

SLEEPINGPROBLEMS
DtrFICULTY IN FALLING OR
STAYING ASLEEP r.64 .2089 25.40 0001
 TABLE 3

A COMPARISON OF PRE-TREATMENT VS. POST-TRf,ATMENT SEMESTER

GRADE POINT AVERAGE MEANS FOR EXPERIMENTALAND CONTROL GROUPS

EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL

BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER

SPRING&FALL'82 2.27 245 2.44 1.92

SPRING'83 256 252 249 2.06

FALL'83 2.55 246 1.95

SPRING& FALL '83 L.'I J 2.54 2.38 2.O0

SPRING& FALL'82 &'83 2.36 2.50 2.46 r.98

'l'ablcs
attcntion training. I a n d2 p r e s c ntth c r c s u l t so l ' a c o n t r o l l c d s t u d yo l ' c o l l c g cl } c s h r n c n
dividcdinto thrccgroups.Thc cxpcrimcntal grouprcccivcdbrainsynchronytrainingand
'l'he
starrdard biolbedback trainingw'ithOpenl"ocustraininglirr eightsessiorrs. "rap"control
groupurctas a grouplor cight sessions and mcmlrcrswerecncouraged to discusstlicir ernotional
strcssandacadcrlicproblcms. I'hccontrolgrouprcccivcdno trcatllrcnt.
'l'ahlc
I shorvsthat.fbr thc cxpcrimcntal group.all physiological mcasurcs irnprovcd
'l'hc
s i g n i l i c a n t l(yl ) < . 0 0 1 ) r n c ltrhca nc o m b i n c dc o n t r o al n dr a pg r o u p s . c o n t r oa l n dr a pg r o u p s
w c r c n o t s i g n i l i c a n t ldyi l i c r c n t( l ' > . 0 5 ) .
'l'ablc
2 showsthat.lbr theexperirncntal group.stressrelatedsymptonrs are irnprovcd
signilicantly (l'<.01) rnorcthancontrolandrap groups.l'able 3 showsa cornparison ol'prc-and
post-training scn-rcstcr gradcpointavcragcslbr cxpcrirncntal andcontrolgroups.All ol'thc
cxpcrimcntsrcsultcdin significantly(P<.05)higherposttrcatmentgradcpoinl avcragcslirr thc
-['hese
expcrimental groupthanfbr the controlgroup. datashowthatthc expcrimcntal group
gradepointaveragcdoesn'tincrease as muchas thc grade point average ol'thc control group
'l'his
dcclincs. suggcsts thatthc combincdncurolccdback. biolccdback and Opcn Iiocusattcntion
trainingprogramprovidesan inoculationagainst.or a rneansto prevent. the deterioration in
gradesassociatcd with the accumulation ol'stress.
I n t c r c s t i nagn dv a l u a b l c l i n i c a o l u t c o r n c(s) c c L w
l r i t h i n t r a - b r a isnv n c h r o r t y ' t r a i n i n g .
Many ol'nry own earlicrreportedexperiences havcbeenrepeated in pcrsonssuccessfully
undergoingintra-brainsynchronytraining.With increased synchrony. reportsof ellbrtlessness.
incrcased sell' compatibilitl'andacceptance ol'othcrsandthe environrnent. enhanced absorption.
unionand unsell'consciousncss arc not uncorrmon.Both attention (subiect) and its cttntent

30
(ob.ject).
and thc spaccin w'hichthe.voccurrnay'bc rcllcctcdscparatcly
in a super-urdinate
awareness" andall mav mergein unionto manif-estwhat I call "No-Tinte"and "No-Thins"(cf
l a r
l-)1.

I N T E R - P E R S O N A LT R A I N I N G

Interesting outcomesalsoariseliom in-phasewholebrainsynchronytrainingol-peak

'l'hc
alphalicquencies bctwccntw'our rnorcpcoplc. lccdbacksignals"usuallylight and sound"
rcllectthedegreeandamplitudcof intcr-pcrson in-phaseIrtrGactivity'.Infirrnraltwo person
neurol'eedback studiessupporttheobservation thatenhanccd awarencss ol'commonsensorv
expcricnces developswith intcr-person synclironl,training.
'l'his
L o n gt c r r nl i i e n d sn r a ) ' m a r v eal b o u t h c i d c n t i t y ' o l ' t h cvi ri s u a l - t h o u g h t - i n r a g c s .
cnhanccdawarcncss o1'common experience is evidentw'hencoupleslacccachothcr.lacc in
oppositcdircctionsor arc locatedin scparatc roonrs.with or withoutknowlcdgcol'thc
i n t c r p c r s o nnaal t u r co l ' t h ct r a i n i n g . W h e nt h e ya r cs i n r p l ya w a r co l ' w h ot h c i rt r a i n i n gp a r t r r c r '
is. thcy nrayrcportthatthcy'lccl an unusuallystrongscnsco1'oncncss with thcir partncr.or that
they l'eelas il'they haveknowntheirpartnerwell in the past.or wercalrcadycloscliiends.
Marricdcouplcsduringsynchronytrainingolien dcscribcthcir cxpcricnccas a rapportsinrilarto
the intimacyof theirhoneyrnoon.Strangcrs nlay scnsceachothcrspresencc. evcnin thc abscncc
of the knowledgethat inter-personal synchronytrainingis in progress.In the lattercase.partners
can scnseeachothelsprescncc and sornetinies rc.iectit in lavorol'aloneness. andat othertirnes
takcplcasurcin suchprcscnccandtogcthcrncss.
Morc rigorouscxpcrinrcntation is nccdcdin thisarcato conl'irnrthcscprcliminary
lindings.At this tirlc. onc canonly spcculatc aboutthe potcntialr,'aluc o1'thcharmonywliiclr
ariscsot-ttol'intcr-pcrsonal synchronytraininglirr sportstcanrs" spiritLral" politicaland cconornic
organizational unity.ncgotiation. thc perlirrnring arts.ps1'chothcrapl'. personalrclationships arrd
Deacc.

0PTIMIZATION OF FTINCTION

Strcssrcduction.hcaling.cmotionalandmentalliealthandoptimizationol'lunctionarc
criticallydependcnt uponthe developnrcnt o1'anawarcness ol'how we attcndand thc cxcrciscol-
appropriatc choiccsof attcntionstylc.In nry vicw. thc dcvclopmcnt ol'suchan awarcncss and
rcsultantintelligentuseo1'attentional skillsdirectlyrellectsandcvenrepresents the most
i r n p o r t a ndti m c n s i o nosl - c v o l u t i oonl ' h u n r a u c o r t s c i o u s u c s[ Js c. c a u socl - i t sn r a n yp o t c n t i a l
bcnclrts.I look lurwardto tlic da1'whcnsignilicantcncrgvand llnancialsuppurtis dcvotcdto
research on the theoretical implications andthe practicalapplications of attentiontraining.
Specilically.rcscarchis neededon the useol'neuroleedback interventions lbr attentional
l l c x i b i l i t ya n dr e s u l t i n g . t c l l e c tb. o d y l u n c t i o n s
h i g h e rl c v c l so l ' i n t c g r a t i oonl ' o u rs c n s c si n
( c s p e c i a l ltyh c a l l i n l p ( ) r t a ni m
t m u n cs l s t e m ) a n dt h ee x p a n s i oonf ' c o n s c i o u s n e sIsl.o o k
forwardto a tin,ewhenschoolchildrcnarc guidedto irnprovethe described attentionskills.and
their llcxibleuse"as an irnpoftantpartol'theeducational curriculum.
The readerwho hasdiligentll,reachedthis pointin thc papermay be wondcringaboutthc
idcntitvof the writerand the desreeto which the latterhasutilizedthe variousstvlesof attention

a 1
-)t
dcscribedin this papcr. In lact.thc w'ritcr.in rcportinghis morcob.jcctivc obscrvations about
attention.hasalsobeenguidedby'ob.jectil"l'ing his own experience of attention.While it is
nccessary" when writing"to adoptan ob.jectivestancc'.somctimes narro\\'andsometirnes difluse.
duringthc prcccdingrcscarchpcriods.oner.nust dissolvebrie11y.w'hollyor in part.into this
scparatcncss in orderto realizellrst hand.by entcringinto onc'sown cxpcricncc.For thc
durationof full unionwith experience. of course.the ob.iective selfwould dissolvecompletely.
in which casctherc would bc no capabilityor necdto studl'attentionob.f ectivelyand report
aboutit. I Iowcvcr.instantlyuponrc-cr-ne rgcnceli'onronerressone may retrospectivcly rcllcct
'['he
and becomcaw'arcof. briclly makean ob.ject of. onc'spreviouscondition. readeris invitcd
to re-readthis paperwiththe goalof directlyexperiencing eachol'thedescribed styleso1'
attcntion.Canyou irnagincrncasuring thc aptncssor accuracl- ol' statcn-rcnts
aboutattcntiort
'l'his
againstyour own expericncc'/[rr,'ery'thing is hypothcsis r-rntil
it is cxperienccd dircctly. is
cvcn so fbr so-calledaccepted scientifictruths.

S T I M M A R YA N D C O N C L T I S I O N

A lundarrrental hypothesis is presented in this paper:Attentionstylesand brainwavc

activityarc rcllectcdin cachothcr. Attcntionis thc nrcansbl which wc rclatcto cxpcricncc.
Attcntionstylcsarcdcfrncdas thosc proccsscs thatcontrolthc proximity.scopc"spccd.stability
a n dd i r e c t i o no 1 ' a w a r c n c sAs t. t c n t i o ns t y l ca n dp h . v s i o l o g y ' h ar vc c i p r o c ai m l p a c t .F l c x i b l c
attcntionalbehaviorcan be learnedusingneunrlbedback andothernon-physiological pcrccptual
tccliniqr-rcs. lrrrphasisol'attcntional st1'lecanbc usedas bothan unconscious andcortscious
vchiclcur stratcgy' lbr rnarraging oLrro\f'nphysiologyandcxpcricnccin our awarcness.For
cxarnplc.wc may broadcnthc scopco1'ourattcntion in ordcrto dilluscthc powcrol'somcsubset
ol'cxpcricrlcc or wc nraynarrowlircuson cxpcricnccin ordcrto enhanccthc intcnsityol'its
irrpact. Or wc nraynarrow'lircus awavandso avoidor dcnvthc cxistcnccol-cxpcricncc.All ol'
theseandotlrerdill'eringattentional strategies all'ectour physiology'and experience.
A s a r e s u lo t l ' h a b i t u aol v e r u s ew. e i n e v i t a b l lya l l p r e ) ' t os o r n es i n g l ea t t e n t i o n as lt y l c .o r
a linritcdrangcol'attcntionsty'lcs. as represcnting our donrinanthabitualidcntity'.An cxanrplc
i d c n t i t yi s r c l l c c t c db y ' t h cs t a t c m c n" tl a m t h c d i r c c t o o r l'anarrow'ob.jectb i vcea mo l '
'l'his
awarencss." paperprescnts a r,'ieu'which encourages an identitywith awareness itscll.and
s p c c i l i c a l l ya.n a w a r c n c sosl ' h o ww c p a ya t t c n t i o n t n w h a t\ c p a \ a t t c n t i o n t o . i n c l u d i n gt h c
awareness ol'the spacein whicha\\'arcncss andattentionand scnsation occLlr.This is a nrore
inclusive"resourcef ul. llexibleandel}'ective umbrellaidentitythanarethosecurrentlyin vogue.
Awarcncssol'attcntionandattcntionalbalance. stabilitl'andllcxibilityarc lundarncntal. though
n o t w i d c l yn o r l u l l y r c a l i z c dc h a r a c t c r i s t ioc1s- h u m a n n c sHso. w e r , c rw. i t h t h c c x p l o s i v cg r o w t h
of the informationage.which ernphasizcs narrow'ly'lbcussed visualization and intcllcctandtheir
ob.iectilication and which cutsus ol'f'lionrour othersenses. modertrpeoplcarc graduallyloosing
'l'his
theirnaturalabilit"v.' to realizcattcntionalllcxibility'. is because narrow'lircused ob.jcctivity
hashccomea habitualllxationof everyda;-' lif'e.
As a specieswe aresufl'ering a multitudeol'unlbrtunate consequences predorlinantly
'l'his
rclatcdto thc accurnulation o1'stress. is bccauscw'clail to providcthc attcntional
conditionsnecessar)' firr thc dillusiono1-stress andthc consequent normalization ol'a wide rangc
ol-physiological and behavioraltunctions.The behavioral. phl'siological. lunctionaland health

-'\/
lirnitations associatcd with identil.v-'ing with onc or a limitedsubseto1'attentional stylesis
considerable. It is only with attentiontrainingthatemphasizes an awarcness of how we pay
attentionandwhich emphasizes flexibilitl'of attentionthatone'sidentitycanbe liberatedfrom
rigidly heldattentionbiasesand li'ornchronicrnaladaptive centralnervoussystenrproccsscs
associatcd with thc accumulation of strcss. Attentionto attentionandattentional llexibility.in
and of themselves. thus.areremedialandpreventatir,'e of d.vstunction. and extendbeyondto
optimizationin its llnestsensc.Attcntionto attcntion.the irnplernentation ol'attcntionskills.and
t h e i n t c g r a t i oann dh a l a n c i n og l ' a t t c n t i osnt y l c sc a ns i g n i l i c a n t lcyn h a n c teh eq u a l i t yo l ' l i l b . A
specilicexarnpleof sucha translormed attentionis presented in this papcr. Its initial lirnnation
'l'his
is dependent uponrniddlelevelso1'arousal. calledthe "arousalportal." portalrepresents thc
gatcwayto thc expcriencc ol'nrorcsubtlcrcaliticsassociated with rnoresubtleand balanccd
r , l l y so l ' p u 1i n g a l l c n l i o r t .
'l'his
papcrdiscusses a vieu'whichis radicallvdir,'ergent llonr nrainstreanr
'l'hcy
contcnt-oricnted thcrapies which work towarda catharsis ol'content. ainrto producca
-l'hc
rcleascol'nrernories ol-scnsations" cnrotions. thoughts. etc.into aw'arcncss. vicw prcscntcd
hcrc is thatthe attentional changcby'whichthe rclcasingproccssoccursand thc conrbination ol-
attcntionalstylcsinto which the releascoccursis at leastas importantto subscquent attcntional
l l c x i b i l i t ya n dh c a l t ha s i s t h c r c l c a s c cdo n t c n t .
An clcctrophysiological nrcchanism lilr thc ncurallunctionsol'attcntion.its corrtcnt. and
the witncssing-scll'is prcscntcd. Rcprcscntcd by tcmporar)'cohcrcnt activityat changingbrain
loci. out-ol'-phasc activitysupportsthc lunctionalandanatomical scparation ol'attcntionliom its
ot-r.icctivc contcnt. In clcctrophvsiological tcrnrs.thc sell'mavbc dcscribcdas an intcrl'crcncc
pattcrncrcatcdby the functional.jr-rxtaposition of two intcracting cohcrcntw'ar,'cs.
I)issolvingpain stratcgics utilizingalternating attcntionstylcsas opposcdto distraction
'lhcsc
or avoidanccapproachcs wcrc nrcntioncd.[]ricl'outcort.tc obscrvatirlns wcrc prcsctttcd.
and othcrnlatterswill bc discusscd in moredctailin a conrpanit)n paper(to bc publislicd29)
which cmphasizcs training o1'attcntional 11cxi biIit1'.
Attcntionor OpenIiocr-rs trainingis not mcrcll'a bod,"" ol'idcas. lt is a prograrnol'
'l'hc
t r a i n i n gc x c r c i s ew s i t h a n dw i t h o L rntc u r o l e c d b a ci nks t r u m c n t a t i o n . g o a li s t o l i r c i l i t a t c
attention-to-attcntion and subscqucnt voluntar,"- controlol'attcntionstylcsas thcy processthe
contentol'our attention(29). lt is not ol'muchpracticaluse.iustto understand aboutattentiort.
O n c m u s tp r a c t i c ca t t c n t i o n t r a i n i n gc r c r c i s c sw. ' i t ha n dw i t h o u t h c a i d o l ' n c u r o l ' c c d b a ct ok .
rcliablyovcrcomcthc attcntionbiascsor habitsgroovcdby ycarsol'ovcrusc.
Attentionto attentionandattcntiontrainingrcprcscnt a simultaneously experiential
(sub.jective) and ncurolcedback (ob.iectivc) voyagethroughan uncharted and vast
'l'his
awarcncss-space. an awarcness-spacc limitedonly by wallsol'attentional biasand habit.
voyageis f'armore momentousand fiaughtwith unpreccdentcd potentiallbr human-kindthan
any explorationthathasgonebefilre. Nevcrdid a brightcrray ol'promiselight our way to
hurtranoptimizationand consciousncss evolutionthandocspracticingand rcsearching thc
characteristics of attcntionandattentionto attention.The tir-rits of attentionpracticcand
personalresearch harc staggering potentiallbr theoptimization ol'everyphaseo1'hurlanlile.
As a conscqucncc. attentiontrainingdcscrves the highestprioritf in tlie child rearingprocessand
on into and throughoutadLrlthood and.therelbrc.dcscn'csa promittcntplaccin our publicand
privateschoolsystemsat everylevel. Learningto pa1attentionto how one paysattentionis

_1,1
synonymous with lcarningto lcarn. Lcarningto pay attentionin an ellortlessintercstcd
styleand
learningto attcndto and appl)'suchctlbrtlcssintcrestcd attentionin evcn appropriatc situation
is an exampleof the process of learningto learnefliciently.

(l{) Opcn Focusis a rcgistcrcdtradcmarkol'Biofbcdback

Computcr.Inc.

I wish to acknowledgc u'ith gratitudethe manyhelplulcomrnents providcdby colleagucs.

studentsand clicntsand particularl,v Yvonnc[]lciman.Lconard('ohcn..lohn('owan.tlill ('urzic.
DavidCioldstcin. Ann Licbcrw'itz.DonaldLindslcy'. SusanRay"Arthur Sichel. RichardSobel.
l n dF r a n kV a n n e r s o nS.p e c i atlh a n k sg o t o S u s a nS h o rw h o h a s
R o b e r t ' l ' h a t c h eDra. v i d ' l ' o l a
contributed Inanyconstructive and substantive suggestions andenduredntanyrevisiottsol'this
. p c c i aal p p r c c i a t i oanl s og o c st o L i n d aA n r a g a sw
p a p c rS u l i o .w i t h o u ts i g no l ' c x a s p c r a l i o n .
cditcdand retypcdthis manuscript rnanytirncs.

l. I i c h r l i .L . ( i . . " l : l e c t r o p h y s i c o l o g i(c' oa rl r e l a t eosl ' l ) c r c c p t r -M

r aal s k i n gi t t M o n k c v s . "
Doctorall)isscrtation. []nivcrsitvof Califbrnia.Los Anseles.lc)66.

2. lichrniL . . ( i . a n d I l L r l l o c k . ' l ' . 1"1[ .) .i s c r i n r i n a t i oAnn r o r t g ' l ' c r n p o rI a

) al t t c r nosl ' S t i m u l a t i o n
i n a ( ' o n r p u t cMr o d c lO t ' a ( ' o c l c n t e r a tNcc r l ' cN c t . "K v b c r n c t i cM . a r z .1 9 6 7 .I l a n d3 ^ 2 4 0 - 2 4 9 .

. . t ) . .a n dA d k i n s . . l . W .".l r l c c t r o p h y s i o l o g i C
3 . I r c h n rLi . ( i . . L i n d s l c l 'D c a' ol r r c l a t cosl ' V i s u a l
I ) c r c c p t i oinn M a n a n dM o n k c y . ( ' o r n6thIntcrnational ( ' o n g r c s I l l c c t r o c n c c p(h' l.i n .
s
N c u r o p h y s i o l1. .9 6 5 6. . 2 3 7 - 2 3 8 .

1. . . l l . . " l ) c r c c p t u aDl i s c r i n r i n a t i oi nn M o n k c y s :
A d k i n s . l . W . .I r c h n r iL. . ( i . a n dL i n d s l c yD
l { c t r o a c t i vV
c i s u a lM a s k i n g . I"' h y s i o l o g al ' n dB c l i a v i o r1. 9 6 9 4 . . 255-259.

- 5 . I i c h m i .L . ( i . . A d k i n s . . l . Wa. n d L i n d s l c yD' . . l ) . ." I h e I : l c c t r o p l i y ' s i o l o g (i c' oarlr c l a t cos l '

I ) c r c c p t u aMl a s k i n gi n M o n k c y s . l"' . x .I l r a i nR c s c a r c h1.9 6 9 . 7 . 2 9 9 - 3l ( r .

6. I r c h r l i .L . G . "" A u t o - R e g u l a t i oonl ' L l e c t r o p h y s i o l o g i P

c ar ol c e s s e sW
. "i n t e rB r a i nR c s c a r c h
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t t . I i e h n r iL. . G . "" l i c c d b a c ak n dS t a t e o s sc d i t a t i o n .("l l d . ) I ] . [ ] r o w n .p p l - 2 2 .

s l ' ( ' o n s c i o u s n cM
Proceedings of Biofbedback Research Society.1970.BFRS:Los Angeles.CA.

9. l i c h m i .L . ( ; . . " l r l : ( ; l i c c d b a c k .("l r d . )U . [ ] r o w ' np. p l - 5 l . l ) r o c c c d i n gosl ' l l i o l c e d b a c k

R e s e a r cSho c i c t y 1 . 9 7 1 "B F R S :L o s A n g el c s .C A .

1 0 . F c h m i .L . G .a n dO s b o r n eS. . ." A u t o r c g u l a t i oonl ' O c c i p i t aIlr E ( ; P h a s eR e l a t i o n s P

" "a p e r
prcscntcd at the AnnualMcetingo1'the Biot'eedback Research Socicty in Los Angeles.
t ' a l i f b r n i a I" 9 7 1.

-:)+
1 1 . F e h m i .[ , . G . ." F c e d b a cakn dA l t e r e dS t a t e o
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W c l l - B e i n g". S o m a t i c sS. p r i n gl 9 t t 0 . 2 4 - 3 0 .

l . t . l i c h r n iL c kn dA t t e n t i o n ' l ' r a i n i n g( l.l"d . ) I ] o o r s t c i nI.l . [ ) . .

. . a n dS e l z e rF. . "" B i o f ' e e d b a a
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1 5 . I r r i t z (. i . . a n dI r e h r n iL. . " " ' l ' l l l : O P I r NI r O C t l SI l a n d b o o k . ' l ' hScc l l ' R c g u l a t i oonl - A t t c n t i o n
in Uiol'ccdback'l'raining and Uveryday'Activities." Biol'eedback ('omputcrs.lnc..Augr.rst. lc)1f2.

1 ( r . I i c h m i .L . ( i . . S u n d o rA. . . " ' l ' h cI r l l e c t so l ' l r l e c t r o dlc) l a c c n r c nUtp o nI r t r GU i o l c c d b a c k

'l'raining:'l'hc ('ontrovcrsl'."Intcrnational
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. V . E . I l a l l . ( E d s . )i.l a n d b o o ko l ' l ' h y s i o l o g 1S,e. c t i o nl : N e u r o p h y s i o l o g y
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W a s h i r r g t oD
n "C : A m c r i c a nl ) h y s i o l o gS y o c i c t y 1' .9 6 1 p. p . 1 5 5 3 - 1 5 9 3 .

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I ) o p u l a t i o t tB. "i o l ' e c d b a cakn dS el l ' - R c g u l a t i o. fno u r n aV
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30. ( i o l d s t c i n[.) . & l ; c h n r i L. . ( i . . " M u l t i c h a n nI e( ' o h c l c n c e' l ' r a i n i n g .I"n I ) r c p a r a t i o n .

'l'hatchcr.
31. R . ( P e r s o n aCl ' o m m u n i c a t i o n ) . ' l ' l i a t sc uhpc rp o r t etdh i sm o d e li n p a r tb y
sLrggcsting thatthcrcwas cvidcncclirr thc rccruitmrcnt ol'in phascactivitl'
I o r ( ' . i n t h c c x a n r p l cb. u t n o t l i r r A . I l o w c v c r .c v i d c n c ci s p r c s c n t chdc r c - i nw h i c hs u p p o r ttsh c
proposcdrnodclrcgardingthe phaserelationship o1"-A"regionsto "("' rcgions.

i 2 . S i c h e lA " . " I i c l i n r i L" . C i .a n d( i o l d s t e i nD. . P o s i t i v cO u t c u r n w

c i t l i N c u n r l c c d b a cI kn a
( ' a s co t ' M i l d A u t i s m .I n p r c p a r a t i o n .

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35. Ilartcr.M.. "ljxcitabiliti C'yclesandCorticalScanning: ol'

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