Focusing and manipulating attention are two ends of a spectrum studied by neuroscientists for clues to brain function.  

Since research in the 19970s by psychologist Ellen Langer, mindfulness, or concentration, has been credited with improving measures of cognitive function. In 2011, researchers from the University of Wisconsin demonstrated that daily meditation could shift frontal brain activity toward states that make us more likely to engage the world. In other words, focused thought changes our feelings at a neural level.

 It was once believed that our brain’s wiring was set for good in our 20s, but these and other studies show that training in attention control can change the structure of brains at any age. It improves communication among our attention networks, allowing them to work with fewer interruptions.

Mindfulness has an added benefit: it helps combat the bad effects of multitasking in which our attention is splintered and degraded as we shift rapidly among tasks. A University of Washington research project in 2012 found that subjects who received mindfulness training improved their ability to concentrate. They did their tasks more efficiently than subjects in other groups and remembered better what they had done. As a bonus, they also experienced fewer negative emotions.

Apollo Robbins, a “theatrical pickpocket” based in Las Vegas, works at the opposite end of the attention management spectrum manipulating other people’s concentration so that he can perform his magic. While controlling people’s attention, he takes things from their bodies or clothing and returns them in surprising ways.  He can remove the cartridge from a pen in a person’s pocket without their knowing it.  He once emptied the pockets of several of Jimmy Carter’s Secret Service detail, lifting items that included badges, the president’s itinerary, and the keys to the motorcade.

Robbins’ ability to manipulate the attention of others has been studied by psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and the military to learn more about the nature of human attention. He has appeared in the National Geographic series “Brain Games” which uses interactive experiments to explore how the brain works. The Department of Defense has consulted him about the military applications of pickpocketing, behavioral influence, and con games. He will soon be an adjunct professor at a D.O.D.-funded research and training facility at Yale, where he will give lectures and design training modules on deception and counter deception.  The Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness has featured him as a convention speaker on the topic of attention management. 

Robbins’ neuroscience talks as well as demonstrations of some of his tricks can be found on YouTube.