A New Theory Explains How Consciousness Evolved

The next evolutionary advance was a centralized controller for attention
that could coordinate among all senses. In many animals, that central
controller is a brain area called the tectum. (“Tectum” means “roof” in
Latin, and it often covers the top of the brain.) It coordinates
something called overt attention – aiming the satellite dishes of the
eyes, ears, and nose toward anything important.