Focusing attention can help an animal find food or flee a predator. It also may have led to consciousness. Tracing evolution over millions of years, Michael S. A. Graziano uses examples from the natural world to show how neurons first allowed animals to develop simple forms of attention: taking in messages from the environment, prioritizing them, and responding as necessary. Then some animals evolved covert attention-a roving mental focus that can...

"Ty turns an ordinary day in the sandbox into a fun beach day. He wiggles his toes in the sand, finds seashells, builds a castle, and splashes in the ocean. When his neighbor's beach ball flies into his backyard, Ty learns that a beach day is even better with a friend"--