What exactly is attention? How does your unique way of focusing affect who you are? Why does something “grab” your attention? Can we train our focus? Can skillful management of attention be the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience, from mood to productivity to relationship?

These and other questions are discussed in a conversation between author Winifred Gallagher and neuroscientist Richard Restak. Restak begins with a short presentation illustrating what happens in the brain when we focus, followed by Gallagher describing her experience and research that offer fresh insights on the topic.

Gallagher and Restak then discuss the nature of attention as a process of selection. By enabling us to zero in on one sight or sound, thought or feeling, and suppress competing stimuli, focus orders our experience and helps to make us who we are. By understanding how attention works, we can select what we focus on more skillfully and ultimately have a more fulfilled life.

Restak is a clinical professor of neurology at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Gallagher’s books include Just the Way You Are, The Power of Place, and the new Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life (Penguin), which is available for signing after the program.

CODE: 1J0-536