Scientists found that human attention shifts in a steady cycle occurring about seven to ten times per second. EEG recordings showed rhythmic patterns that matched moments when attention was most likely to move toward a distracting stimulus. These cycles created alternating windows of better and worse detection of a target, and when detection was worse participants were more affected by distractors.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Rochester and published in PLOS Biology, tested 40 participants. People focused on a dim grey square while coloured dots served as distractors, and the team excluded any trials with eye movements so the results reflected internal shifts of attention.
Authors note these shifts can happen hundreds of thousands of times each day and suggest that reduced alternation might lower cognitive flexibility in people with ADHD.
Difficult words
- rhythmic — repeating pattern with regular time intervals
- distractor — something that takes attention away from taskdistractors
- detection — the act of noticing or finding something
- exclude — to leave out or not include somethingexcluded
- internal — inside a person or inside a process
- alternation — a repeated change between different states
- cognitive flexibility — ability to change thinking or behavior
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Have you noticed times when you are more or less attentive? Describe what happens then.
- What strategies do you use to reduce distractions when you need to focus?
- How could this research help people with attention problems like ADHD?
