  The attentional blink (AB) effect is the reduced ability of subjects to
report a second target stimuli (T2) among a rapidly presented series of
non-target stimuli, when it appears within a time window of about 200-500 ms
after a first target (T1). We present a simple dynamical systems model
explaining the AB as resulting from the temporal response dynamics of a
stochastic, linear system with threshold, whose output represents the amount of
attentional resources allocated to the incoming sensory stimuli. The model
postulates that the available attention capacity is limited by activity of the
default mode network (DMN), a correlated set of brain regions related to task
irrelevant processing which is known to exhibit reduced activation following
mental training such as mindfulness meditation. The model provides a
parsimonious account relating key findings from the AB, DMN and meditation
research literature, and suggests some new testable predictions.
