By Neuroscience News
You and a friend stand at a crosswalk. Sounds and sights blend into a bustling tableau. Suddenly, a near-miss: a motorist almost hits a bicyclist.
"Whoa, did you see that?" you gasp. Your friend nods, "A fully restored 1967 Ford Mustang!" Two people, same scene, different observations.
Why did you both notice different things? Some say external factors guide our attention. Yet, could our conscious choices, our free will, play a role?
Enter Professor George R. Mangun. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, he's on a mission. His goal: to decipher the cognitive mechanisms behind voluntary attention.
"Our free will choices influence our awareness," Mangun notes. This isn't just about everyday observations. Understanding voluntary attention can shed light on brain disorders like Parkinson's.
Past studies often used artificial cues. Mangun's approach is different. His team merges cognitive acts of attention with voluntary motor actions.
Mangun's earlier work hinted at breakthroughs. Ongoing brain activity could predict future attention choices. It was almost like... mind-reading.
Beyond understanding the mind, there's potential for real-world application. Imagine prosthetics driven directly by brain signals. And for Mangun, this research is also about empowering the next generation in STEM.