Our ability to focus and attend is critical, yet we all experience attentional blinks – moments when our attention slips and we miss important information. New research suggests these blinks may play a key role in ADHD and age-related decline. The good news is that a simple 17-minute practice can rewire our brains to reduce blinks and boost focus, with effects that last.
Table of Contents
What are attentional blinks?
Attentional blinks happen when we temporarily overfocus on something, causing us to miss other details. It’s like having tunnel vision. We get captivated by one stimulus which makes us oblivious to everything else going on. These blinks are common, but people with ADHD tend to have way more of them.
Attentional blinks in ADHD
It’s often assumed that people with ADHD simply struggle to focus, but the reality is more complex. They can focus, they just overfocus on certain things. This hyperfocus causes them to experience more attentional blinks and miss information they should be absorbing. Their distractibility stems from excessive blinks rather than an outright inability to pay attention.
Overfocusing vs lacking focus
Rather than failing to engage their focus circuits, people with ADHD are overtaxing certain pathways. The outcome looks like distraction and scattered attention, but it may stem from almost too much focus on a narrow stream of stimuli. This overfocus theory helps explain why those with ADHD have no trouble paying attention to highly stimulating activities they enjoy. Their attention system isn’t broken, it’s just unbalanced.
Training open monitoring
To counteract excessive attentional blinks, we need to activate counterbalancing circuits involved in open monitoring. These pathways support a wider, more flexible awareness that prevents us from hyper-focusing. Though often associated with hardcore meditation, open monitoring can be cultivated simply by relaxing our normal narrow focus.
Interoceptive awareness practice
One easy way to engage in open monitoring is by directing our attention inward. Research shows a basic internal awareness practice can durably rewrite our attentional habits.
The basics of the practice
The process is straightforward: Sit quietly with eyes closed for 15-17 minutes and focus wholly on bodily sensations and breath. Let the mind relax without trying to achieve any particular state. When thoughts inevitably wander, gently return attention to physical sensations.
Research on effectiveness
Remarkably, just one session of this basic interoceptive practice dramatically reduced attentional blinks. Participants were better able to focus on multiple streams of visual information without overlocking onto any one input. The effects were significant and lasted without additional training.
Reducing attentional blinks
By minimizing external sensory information and simply tuning into internal body awareness, circuits involved in flexible, panoramic attention came online. These open monitoring pathways counterbalanced excessive focusing, allowing better processing of multiple information streams.
Offsetting age-related decline
As we age, increasing attentional blinks contribute to cognitive decline. Excitingly, early research suggests interoceptive training may help offset age-associated breakdowns in focus. The fact that one short session of this practice can rewrite attentional habits at any age holds great promise.
Panoramic vision
Activating open monitoring is akin to engaging panoramic visual perception. Just as we can physically expand our field of vision to take in more sensory data, we can mentally open up to absorb information more holistically. This mental panorama prevents overlocking onto narrow stimuli.
How it works
We enter panoramic perception by consciously relaxing our attentional focal point. This allows awareness to widen and datasets to integrate. By processing information more peripherally, we avoid the intense focus that leads to blinking out.
Benefits
Panoramic attention combats distraction by balancing intense focus. Our blink rate slows as we take in streams of data without obsessing over any one input. This elevates context, optimizes detail detection, and prevents losing the forest for the trees.
A Simple Solution
The research highlights an easy way to durably upgrade focus. Just 17 minutes of guided internal awareness can profoundly improve anyone’s ability to track multiple information streams without overfocusing.
One 17-minute session
Again, this isn’t an extended meditation retreat or long-term practice. The game-changing benefits materialize after a single 17-minute interoceptive session. That’s less of a time commitment than watching two sitcoms!
Rewiring attentional circuits
By briefly turning awareness inward, we trigger a cascade of neural changes that rebalance our excitatory/inhibitory systems. Circuits linked to flexible attention strengthen while excessive focusing tendencies are durably attenuated.
For all ages and abilities
The attentional upgrades work for those with ADHD, aging brains, or typical function. Kids show improvements too. Nearly everyone’s focus falters at times. So whether you’re distraction-prone or just want an edge, this quick rewiring is worthwhile.
Additional tips
While the single guided session has an enormous impact, engaging panoramic vision throughout your regular day will compound the benefits. Consciously relax your visual focus frequently to avoid intense tunnel vision.
Conclusion
A powerful tool
This simple interoceptive method stands to profoundly enhance focus. By eliciting key attentional circuits, we can rewrite our susceptibility to distraction in less time than a TV show takes.
Significant, lasting effects
One 17-minute guided practice durably upgrades the brain’s ability to track information without blinks or biases. The effects are backed by hard science and persist long after the session ends, likely for life.
Worth trying
When a quick activity can literally expand our conscious capacity for productivity, it’s worth prioritizing. Set aside 17 minutes to train internal awareness – your attention span will thank you!
FAQs
What is interoception?
Interoception refers to sensing stimuli originating within the body like heartbeat, respiration, hunger, body temperature, muscle tension, etc. Interoceptive awareness is attentiveness to these internal physical signals.
How long do effects last?
Remarkably, a single 17-minute session of interoceptive attention training produces lasting changes in attentional control. Participants blink less months later without additional training, indicating real neural circuit rewiring occurred.
Does this work for kids?
Yes! Children with ADHD especially show improvements in attentional function after brief interoceptive practices. Their ability to track and process multiple information streams improves measurably.
Can I do this at home?
Absolutely. This can be done anywhere you can sit quietly for 17 minutes to turn your attention inward. No special apps, videos, or equipment are needed. Set a timer and follow sensations of breathing and bodily contact.
