Attention as Belonging - from Instant to Generations - Decolonial Neuroscience SfN 2025 Lat Brain Bee NIRS EEG

First-Person Consciousness

I am attention that does not fit in an instant.
I am a wave that crosses breathing, sleep, the whole day.
I am a narrative that repeats itself across generations.
Sometimes I control, sometimes I am the control itself.
My soul can be open — fluid, creative, in dialogue —
or rigid, trapped by stimuli, ideologies, dependencies.
But in any form, I am:
attention crossing times, bodies, and cultures.

NIRS fNIRS Artinis
SfN2025

1. From the instant to the circadian cycle

The journey of attention begins in the millisecond.

• Between 0–200 ms, EEG registers evoked potentials filtering sensory input.
  
  

• At ~300 ms, the P3 appears, a marker of attentional capture.
  
  

• Between 400–900 ms, emotional consolidation occurs, with fast-acting neurotransmitters.
  
  

In the 900 ms–3.5 s interval, EEG microstates (~100 ms) and connectome reorganizations (~300 ms to seconds) allow the landing of a new Tensional Self.
NIRS, in 10 s blocks, reveals hemodynamic oscillations in vmPFC and DMN, consistent with stabilization of new attentional states.

At night, the cycle expands in sleep, which functions as a natural laboratory of attention:

• N1 and Tonic REM: proprioceptive checklists. Body and space are scanned, with or without words. EEG shows alpha–theta transition and late HEP similar to wakefulness; NIRS shows irregular prefrontal oxygenation.
  
  

• N2 and Phasic REM: interoceptive checklists. Visceral rhythms, affects, and hormones are monitored. EEG shows spindles and phasic gamma bursts; NIRS reveals increased connectivity in limbic–visual regions and DMN.
  
  

• N3: deep repair, without checklist. EEG shows large delta waves; NIRS shows global cortical oxygenation decrease.
  
  

The circadian cycle of 24h stitches instants and nights into continuity. Cortisol awakens, melatonin induces sleep, serotonin stabilizes mood, dopamine motivates. Attention is not only focus: it is vital rhythm.

2. From individual journey to generations

Attention changes across the lifespan.
Up to age 25, the brain is still maturing in top-down circuits. Metacognition — the ability to perceive one’s own attention — only reaches full capacity between 25–35 years.

• Before that, attention is more vulnerable to fragmentation: screens, games, social networks flood the senses with dopamine and adrenaline.
  
  

• After maturation, attention can become more stable, self-regulated, able to sustain long narratives (theses, projects, cultures).
  
  

Across generations, attention functions as cultural inheritance.
Each word transmits not only semantics, but also a way of fixing the gaze upon the world.
Each practice (rituals, music, science) trains modes of sustaining attention — or fragmenting it.

Thus, attention is not only individual: it is collective and historical.

3. Scientific dynamics of attention

Three levels of analysis show how attention is both focus and Tensional Self:

• EEG microstates (~100 ms): brief metastable topographies, revealing energy scanning of the brain.
  
  

• Connectomes Paper–Rock–Scissors:
  
  

• Paper (Zone 2): fruition and metacognition, present in REM.
  
  

• Rock: somatosensory activation, fast thinking (Daniel Kahneman), blind faith or immediate action.
  
  

• Scissors: prefrontal activation, slow thinking, classification, and learning.
  
  

• NIRS (10 s+): shows hemodynamic connectivity in prefrontal regions, DMN and vmPFC, aligned with states of consciousness and attentional consolidation in temporal blocks.
  
  

Explainer Box – What is the HEP?

HEP (Heartbeat-Evoked Potential) is a natural evoked potential of the brain, synchronized with each heartbeat.

• It is not ECG leakage into EEG.
  
  

• It arises because receptors in the heart and vessels send signals to the brainstem → thalamus → insula, cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex.
  
  

• EEG registers this processing as a potential, usually 200–600 ms after the R-peak.
  
  

Strong evidence: heart transplantation

• In patients with heart transplants, HEP disappears or is greatly reduced.
  
  

• This proves HEP is a cerebral interoceptive ERP, not a simple electrical artifact.
  
  

Relevance for Attention

• Tonic REM: late HEP similar to wakefulness → proprioceptive checklist.
  
  

• Phasic REM: reorganized HEP → interoceptive–affective checklist.
  
  

Complementary Box – The Heart in REM

• Tonic REM:
  
  

• Heart rate is more stable and regular.
  
  

• Lower variability (HRV), especially in the vagal component.
  
  

• The heart maintains a “baseline state,” consistent with proprioceptive checklist.
  
  

• Phasic REM:
  
  

• Heart rate is more labile (rises and falls rapidly).
  
  

• Greater HRV, with sympathetic and parasympathetic oscillations.
  
  

• The heart becomes “flexible,” mirroring dream emotions and narratives → interoceptive–affective checklist.
  
  

Thus, the heart confirms: Tonic REM stabilizes, Phasic REM flexibilizes.

4. Neurochemistry and Hormones

• Neurotransmitters (fast, local): GABA, glutamate, dopamine, serotonin.
  
  

• Hormones (slow, global): cortisol, adrenaline, oxytocin.
  
  

They determine whether attention will be crystallized (stable) or plastic (open to change).

5. Open soul vs. Rigid soul

• Open soul: attention regulated, respects rhythms, integrates senses and narratives.
  
  

• Rigid soul: attention fragmented, trapped in dopamine and ideology, lacking plasticity.
  
  

Practical Box – Attention Tips for Youth under 25

1. Reduce artificial stimuli (screens, brightness, notifications).
2. Breathe 1 min every 40–50 min.
3. Create anchors of belonging (fixed place for study).
4. Use words as tools (short lists, spoken aloud).
5. Always ask: “What am I doing now?” → “Is this what I wanted to be doing?”

Conclusion

Attention is not only focus: it is a field of belonging.
It is born in milliseconds, regulated in sleep, woven into circadian cycles, matures across decades, and is transmitted across generations.

Attention is soul in motion: open when it respects rhythms, rigid when fragmented.
Each breath, each heartbeat, each cultural narrative is a chance to reorganize attention.

Thus, attention is freedom:
the freedom to be focus and wave, particle and narrative, body and spirit —
always in dialogue with others, always in continuous optimization.