Closely linked to our fear circuits is the brain's…

Closely linked to our fear circuits is the brain's "salience network," which decides moment-to-moment what is most relevant for us, and so shifts our attention there. The intertwining of our circuits for threat and for focus result in our attention riveting on what makes us frightened. In human prehistory, no doubt, this tight link between threats and focus helped our ancestors survive a dangerous world. Today, however, we can endure fairly constant "threats" the things we worry about. And so our worries and anxieties become continual sources of distraction, narrowing our attention.

— from The Mind in the Cockpit

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