ADD: Arousal and Attention

  “THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AROUSAL AND ATTENTION:     Arousal and attention have a unique relationship.  They are not the same but they are dependent on each other.  Arousal is the level of intensity, how bright or dim the light is, whereas attention is how focused the light is.  Compare an ordinary hundred-watt bulb to a hundred-watt spotlight.  The ordinary light bulb illuminates the field around it, whereas the spotlight illuminates a specific spot on the field.     We can be very aroused but not focused on anything specific.  Anxiety patients are a classic example, and so is the over-aroused, bouncing-off-the-wall child.  They are in a state of over arousal; they may be focused on everything.  So, everything captures their attention, often moving quickly from one thing to another and back.  Even with a very high level of arousal they cannot clearly attend or learn or have a sense of control.  It takes focus to do that.” pp.11-12.  From Getting Rid of Ritalin by Robert W. Hill, Ph.D. and Eduardo Castro, M.D.     Neurofeedback is highly effective in training the brain to focus.