Michael S A Graziano

Illuminating his groundbreaking theory of consciousness known as the attention schema theory, Michael S. A. Graziano traces the evolution of the mind over millions of years with examples from the natural world. He shows how neurons first allowed animals to develop simple forms of attention and then to construct awareness of the external world and of the self. Graziano draws...

Focusing attention can help an animal find food or flee a predator. It also may have led to consciousness. Tracing evolution over millions of years, Michael S. A. Graziano shows how neurons first allowed animals to develop simple forms of attention: taking in messages from the environment, prioritising them, and responding as necessary. Then covert attention evolved—a roving, mental focus...