Exploring the Relationship Between Attention and Awareness. Neurophenomenology of the Centroencephalic Space of Functional Integration

Abstract

Although there is a no established theory, there is no longer any doubt about the multiplicity of the structures involved in the attentional processes. Attention is involved, in fact, in several fundamental functions: Consciousness, perception, motor action, memory and so on. For several decades, the hypothesis that attention is highly variable (for extension and clarity) in terms of consciousness has been quite influential, which would range within itself in relation to its changes of state: From sleep to wakefulness, from drowsiness to twilight state of consciousness, from confusion to hyperlucidity, from dreamlike to oneiric states. More recently, other fields of considerable theoretical importance have linked attention to emotion, to affectivity or primary autonomous psychic energy or to social determinants. In this paper, we shall demonstrate how paying attention to something does not mean becoming aware of it. A series of experiments has shown that these are two distinct mental states. This decoupling could represent a useful mechanism for the ability to survive that has developed during the course of evolution.