When asked to imagine what a brilliant scientist would be like, most people picture the common stereotype of an absent minded professor so caught up in thinking and thought he is totally oblivious of everything going on around him.  Could there be truth to the stereotype?

Also known as daydreamers,  it seems that the consciousness of some people is more inward focused on the thinking area of the brain than on the sensory input area of what is going on around them (outward focused).   We have all experienced short times when we are lost in thought and tuned out the world around us, similar to what happens when we get involved in reading a good book.  Why is it that some people are more prone to cognitively exist in this area of the brain?  Is the reason genetic?  Can it be learned or unlearned?

OUTWARD FOCUSED

When we are outward focused we are more aware of details of what is going on around us and less focused in the thinking area of the brain.

 

INWARD FOCUSED

When we are inward focused the things going on around us seem blurred and the thinking part of our brain is focused.

If a mainly inward focused person can ignore the distraction of stimulus from the senses, can that add to better analytic abilities of the brain?  Not to say that people that inward focused are any more intelligent than outward focused people but could the combination of both inward focused and intelligent equal genius?

If cognitive consciousness can in fact be focused  in certain areas of the brain, what if it was focused in an area that wasn’t sensory or thinking?  Could that explain some causes of mental illness?

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com