Attentional control

Attentional control is how our brains decide what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. It helps us to stay focused on important things. For example, if you are doing your school work and want to focus on finishing it, your attentional control might be telling you to ignore the sound of your friend playing outside or the itch on your arm. Attentional control is like having an imaginary "on/off" switch in your brain that you can use to decide what to pay attention to and what to ignore.