The brain controls the ability to pay attention and retain information.  The ability to generate attention in the presence of distractions is required for successful interaction in the world we live in today.  Attention in the brain has been heavily studied, but the cellular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon was unknown until the release of recent study results.

Researchers at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the University of California conducted a study looking at communication between synaptically connected neurons.  To investigate the function of attention within the brain, the researchers observed the neurons under conditions that distracted test subjects’ attention towards or away from visual stimuli.  Looking at the neuron-to-neuron communication, they observed that attention levels were directly related to synapse sensitivity to incoming signals.  By increasing synaptic sensitivity, information transmission levels increased and the influence of distractions decreased.

The observations made by the researchers suggested a novel mechanism relating attention to the alteration of presynaptic sensitivity to sensory features.  The findings of this research team concurred with previous findings and further added a prospective at the synaptic level, which earlier studies lacked.

The mechanism discovered by these researchers can lead to further breakthroughs regarding our understanding of the brain and its functions.  Learning how the brain generates attention could help lead to important advances in prevention and treatment of conditions such as attention deficit disorders.