Attention Residue

Biological Parallel

When prey animals switch from feeding to vigilance, neural activation from the feeding task persists—attention residue that slows threat detection. The brain doesn't switch cleanly between tasks; previous activation patterns linger, occupying working memory and degrading performance on the new task. This is why sentinels (meerkats, prairie dogs) rotate: sustained vigilance requires clearing residue from other activities. Task-switching isn't free—it leaves cognitive debts.