August 2014 Update
Consult my July page and CV for my other recent activities.
HISTORY OF ATTENTION
I have begun the process of editing a four volume series of classic paper in the field of attention.
The project is described below
At the turn of the 20th century Attention was seen as the central topic in human psychology. One hundred years later the attentional networks involved in selection of information, maintaining alertness, self control, and management of emotions have been explored by brain imaging. Understanding attention has become central to managing our electronic devices, raising our children and obtaining the most from reading, listening and searching our connected world.
This four volume series provides the basis for understanding the progress made in over a century of empirical studies, theories and application. The first volume lays out classical problems in the field revealing the limits of attention, creating methods for probing mechanisms related to attention and defining the limits of the field. The second volume examines critical theories that allow computer programs to simulate and predict how attention operates. The third volume deals with the use of brain imaging, cellular recording and optogenetics to delineate how the brain carries out the functions of attention. The final volume connects studies of attention to applications including, connectivity to electronic media, brain based educational programs, economics of decision making, and psychopathologies.
The volumes will be constructed following extensive consultation with leading investigators of attention and its related fields allowing the selection of important articles from different traditions around the world. The volumes provide a broad background in the field frequently missing in the training of new students and thuscould help a new generation of students make advances in basic research and application of attention.
MOLECULAR AND GENETICS OF HUMAN SKILL LEARNING
Together with Mary Rothbart and Pascale Voelker we have begun a project to understand the how network and state training lead to improvements in human skill. The attached proposal will provide the current background and projected work.