Cognitive Archeology and the Attentional System: An Evolutionary Mismatch for the Genus Homo

Abstract

Brain evolution is a key topic in evolutionary anthropology. Unfortunately, in this sense the fossil record can usually support limited anatomical and behavioral inferences. Nonetheless, information from fossil species is, in any case, particularly valuable, because it represents the only direct proof of cerebral and behavioral changes throughout the human phylogeny. Recently, archeology and psychology have been integrated in the field of cognitive archeology, which aims to interpret current cognitive models according to the evidence we have on extinct human species. In this article, such evidence is reviewed in order to consider whether and to what extent the archeological record can supply information regarding changes of the attentional system in different taxa of the human genus. In particular, behavioral correlates associated with the fronto-parietal system and working memory are employed to consider recent changes in our species, Homo sapiens, and a mismatch between attentional and visuospatial ability is hypothesized. These two functional systems support present-moment awareness and mind-wandering, respectively, and their evolutionary unbalance can explain a structural sensitivity to psychological distress in our species.

Cognitive archaeology, and the psychological assessment of extinct minds

“…Finally, attention can be focused on a single input, or else open to a wide range of stimuli (Lutz et al., 2008). It can be expected that, among all these different processes, executive, top‐down, and focused mechanisms were the ones that have experienced more consistent changes, in the genus Homo (see Bruner, 2023a). As a result, our attention is particularly derived, being intentional, sustained, and conscious.…”

“…Many meditation practices involve a circular fluctuation between the spontaneous activation of the default mode network and a conscious return to the present‐moment attentional system (Hasenkamp & Barsalou, 2012; Hasenkamp et al., 2012). Taking all this into account, I have proposed that such an imbalance between the attentional and imaging capacity, that is, between online and offline information, can be due to an evolutionary mismatch within the many functions of the parietal cortex, in which the latter (visuospatial ability) exceeded the former (attentional ability) (Bruner, 2023a; Bruner & Colom, 2022). Such imbalance can be positive in terms of evolutionary selection and reproduction (actually, the default mode network supports exceptional human skills such as future planning or daydreaming, and it is not, per se, antagonist to attentional states; Vago & Zeidan, 2016), but, very often, generates individual conflicts and psychological drawbacks.…”

Seeing without a Scene: Neurological Observations on the Origin and Function of the Dorsal Visual Stream

“…In primates, the dorsal stream must control not only orienting movements of the eyes, head, and trunk but also reaching and grasping movements that require accurate information about the size and shape of the object to be grasped. Bruner (2023) has highlighted the point that in humans, the function of the dorsal visual stream evolved to enable the development of new skills like throwing and tool use. Throwing, a skill not possible in non-human apes, was made possible by changes in the anatomy and mechanics of the shoulder that enabled modern humans to project force (Roach et al 2013).…”