Cognitive process of selectively focusing on specific stimuli or tasks while filtering out competing information. It underlies [[perception]], [[memory]], and executive control, and its dysfunction is central to conditions such as [[ADHD]]. - Core Types - Sustained: maintaining focus over time - Selective: filtering distractions to prioritize relevant input - Divided: distributing focus across multiple tasks or stimuli - Shifting: flexibly reallocating focus between tasks or domains - Neural Systems - [[Dorsal Attention Network]]: top-down, goal-directed control - [[Ventral Attention Network (VAN)]]: bottom-up, stimulus-driven reorienting - [[Prefrontal Cortex]]: executive regulation of focus - [[Anterior Cingulate Cortex]]: conflict monitoring and error detection - Perspectives - [[Psychology]]: experimental models of selective and divided attention - [[Neuroscience]]: network-level dynamics and brain region activation - Clinical: deficits in disorders like [[ADHD]], neglect syndromes, and [[Trauma|traumatic]] brain injury - Subtopics - [[Selective Attention]] - [[Divided Attention]] - [[Attention Networks]] - [[ADHD]] - Methods - Behavioral tasks: Stroop, Posner cueing, dual-task paradigms - Neuroimaging: fMRI and EEG to map attentional shifts - Computational models: resource allocation and capacity limits