A Simple Model of Attentional Blink
Nadav Amir, Israel Nelken, Naftali Tishby
arXiv Preprint Archive November 27, 2016 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Q-bio.nc Eess.sy |
| Key points | Proposes that the attentional blink arises from the temporal dynamics of a stochastic linear system with threshold, whose capacity is limited by default mode network activity; the model integrates findings from AB, DMN, and meditation research and yields new predictions. |
Abstract
The attentional blink (AB) effect is the reduced ability of subjects to report a second target stimuli (T2) among a rapidly presented series of non-target stimuli, when it appears within a time window of about 200-500 ms after a first target (T1). We present a simple dynamical systems model explaining the AB as resulting from the temporal response dynamics of a stochastic, linear system with threshold, whose output represents the amount of attentional resources allocated to the incoming sensory stimuli. The model postulates that the available attention capacity is limited by activity of the default mode network (DMN), a correlated set of brain regions related to task irrelevant processing which is known to exhibit reduced activation following mental training such as mindfulness meditation. The model provides a parsimonious account relating key findings from the AB, DMN and meditation research literature, and suggests some new testable predictions.