14 DAY TRIAL // When it picks up sudden movements or sounds, the brain of most animals – including humans – needs to reach a conclusion fast, and to act on that so as to keep the body out of harm's way. A new scientific study has revealed that there are numerous neural pathways that compete for attention inside the cortex, right before a conclusion is reached, and the brain orders the body (especially the eyes and ears) to focus their attention on the perceived threat.
For example, we may hear something behind us, and our main instinct would be to turn to assess if it's a danger or not. But our brains could analyze the sounds and determine that the noise is nothing more than a falling leaf, or a drop of water falling in the sink, and then we wouldn't turn around, our instincts being certain that there is no risk at stake. For the new investigation, experts at the Stanford University in California worked with barn owls.
They especially looked at the activity of neurons in the midbrain, a portion of the brain that plays an important role in relaying sensory information. The neurons in this region engage in a “winner takes it all”-type of battle with one another, each competing for the “privilege” of telling the brain what to do. The researchers determined that the victors in this battle commanded the owl attention and gaze, a trait that was never before observed in animal species, Nature News reports.
The new research could hold the key to the long-standing mystery of how the brain decides where to look in case of an emergency. The finds were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, recently held in Chicago, Illinois. It was also established in the experiments that the neural pathways involved in the competition fired in short bursts, at frequencies of 30 to 40 hertz. These are roughly the same frequencies that have been measured in monkeys, when they pay attention to stimuli. Therefore, the researchers concluded, the frequency was meaningful for attention.