Concentration and your higher self

In recent studies on concentration, researchers have determined that all the noise and chatter that our visual and auditory cortex is constantly subjected to is filtered by a coherent firing of neurons in the frontal cortex, called gamma waves. In information processing, most models posit some form of bottom-up construction of the external world in our brain, but in this case there is a significant ability to affect the visual field in a top-down fashion. That this over-riding mechanism of attention occurs in the new (evolutionarily speaking) area of the pre-frontal cortex should come as no surprise. This area of the brain is often equivocated to the 6th chakra, Ajna Chakra, which is responsible for balancing the energies from Shiva (object) and Shakti (subject) to create a sense of psychic knowing or 'seeing' through this 'third-eye.' In this light, the research is interesting because it reveals physical evidence of both form (visual stimulus) and function (our ability to attend to it or not). Practicing meditation trains this part of our brain for concentration and allows us to focus on that which we want to focus on instead of what assaults us on a daily basis. In Chinese Medicine, this visual stimulus is associated with the Stomach network where the outside world is internalized and integrated into our self. Just as we can choose our food, we choose what we attend to. Just as we can be driven mad to the point of indifference with our choices of food (Thai? Indian? Burgers? Pizza? Italian? Nepalese?) we can become comfortably numb to the chaotic cacophony that is city life.