Emiliano Bruner, a paleoneurologist at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), led a study published in the journal Intelligence on how attention evolved in the human genus. The study looked at paleontological and archaeological evidence that could shed light on the attentional capacity of extinct hominins.
This study proposes evolutionary changes in attention associated with the origin of the human genus and Neanderthals, but only with Homo sapiens did this cognitive capacity reach a level of complexity that would profoundly revolutionise the species' behaviour, technological complexity, and social structure.
It analyses the function of the development of the parietal lobes in attention, which may be described as the ability to retain the cognitive process focussed on one aim throughout time and space in the face of internal and external distractions. The study assesses information on the lithic industry and ecology of ancient hominins at the archaeological level, looking for behaviours that might indicate evolutionary changes in working memory and visuospatial skills.
The parietal lobes, which are an important element of the attentional network, are also engaged in visual imagination, which is linked to our ability to project in the past (memories) and future (prediction). A mismatch between this projection ability and the attentional network can disrupt the balance between perception of the current moment and internal ruminations, which are the primary reasons of human societies' high prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Meditation
Meditation is a type of cognitive training for the perceptual and attentional systems that has recently received a lot of attention in neuroscience due to its benefits on the capacity to direct and keep interest on the present moment.
In fact, mindfulness, the most well-known style of meditation in Western civilization, is also known as naked attention. "Given the intimate association between attentional capacity and meditation, and to put the cat among the pigeons," explains Bruner, "it seemed to us to study whether ancient hominins would have been capable of practising the selection and preservation of mental stimuli."
Despite the significance of attention in all cognitive processes, this capacity has never been studied from a paleoanthropological standpoint before this work, which was carried out in partnership with Roberto Colom of the Psychology Department at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
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