What are focus & attention?

In general terms, focus refers to the ability to willingly direct and sustain attention towards any stimulus in one’s environment, while tuning out and ignoring other environmental stimuli.^[1] The ability to focus is an important aspect of overall cognitive function and is critical for learning, memory, and executive function.^[2] Most brain owners are intimately familiar with the concept as well — the amount of focus and attention one is able to sustain at any given time can vary as a function of physical, emotional, and/or cognitive states. Many have experienced the stark contrast between ‘good’ days, when the ability to direct sustained and calm focus in any particular direction comes seemingly without effort, vs. the more scattered, more challenged state of focus and attention after several days’ worth of inadequate sleep or high levels of stress.