Scientific Understanding of Consciousness
Consciousness as an Emergent Property of Thalamocortical Activity

Sidebar Table of Contents

Abnormal functioning

Alcoholism Motivation

Nicotine Addiction

Benzodiazepines and Opioid Drug Abuse

Dopamine Signaling Altered by Drugs of Abuse

Football Concussions

Hallucinogen Drug Action

Oscillations and Schizophrenia

Amblyopia and Brain Cortical Plasticity

Amygdala

Amygdalar and Hippocampal substrates of Anxious Temperament

Amygdala Circuitry Controlling Anxiety

Amygdala to Nucleus Accumbens Pathway

Attention

Attention and Awareness in Primary Visual Cortex

Access to Consciousness — Ongoing Spontaneous Activity — Inattentional Blindness

Attention Enhances Retrieval and Stability in Hippocampus

Attention Gateway in Visual Thalamus

Attentional Selection -- Entrainment of Neuronal Oscillations

Focused Attention -- Gamma Oscillations (20-80 Hz)

Attention Control

Attention -- Recent Research

Basal Ganglia

Basal Ganglia -- Multiple Parallel Loops

Parallel Circuit of Basal Ganglia

Basal Ganglia loops for Action Selection

Bayesian Inference

Bayesian Inference in Brain Functionality

Brain’s Internal Models of its Environment

Brain as a Reality Emulator

Brain Functions as a Reality Emulator

Brain’s Internal Models of its Environment

Scientific Thought Patterns begin in Infancy

Brain Imaging

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

fMRI Technology Update

Brain Imaging Challenges

Brain Stem

Brain Stem Nuclei Involved in Homeostasis

Central Pattern Generators

Central Pattern Generators

Central Pattern Generator Start-Stop Signals

FAPs — Central Pattern Generators

FAPs — Fixed Action Patterns

FAPs — Persistent Activity

Cerebellum

High-Fidelity Transmission of Sensory Information in Cerebellum

Cerebellum -- Multiple Parallel Loops

Cognition

Neural Basis of Economic Decision-Making

Neural Origin of Willed Actions

Self-Control in Decision-Making

Complexity, Self-Organization, Emergence

Consciousness and Complexity

Chaos in Neuronal Networks

Complex Systems, Growth and Preferential Attachment, Self-Organization

Consciousness

Edelman's Core Consciousness Diagram

Consciousness and Complexity

Supercomputer Simulation of Brain Functionality

Intracranial Markers of Conscious Access

Allan Hobson’s Building Blocks of Consciousness

Minimal Consciousness

Example — Unexpectedly Meeting a Friend

Music, Art, Sleep, Sex, and Love

Cortex

Cingulate Cortex

Fictive Reward Signals in Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Orbitofrontal Cortex Functions

Orbitofrontal Cortex In Pursuit of Specific Rewards

Dynamic Core of Consciousness

Dynamic Core -- A Subset of Thalamocortical Activity

Dynamic Core Diagram by Edelman

Embryonic and Postnatal Development

Cerebral Cortex Embryonic Development

Development of Large-Scale Functional Brain Networks in Children

Embryonic Development of Neural Network

Neocortex Outer Region Subventricular Zone Development

Thalamocortical System Development

Emotions

Disgusting — Oral Origins of Moral Disgust

Envy and Schadenfreude

Emotion Diagram of Edmund Rolls

Consciousness and Love

Sexually-Based Love

Feelings (Damasio)

Humor and Laughter

Evolution of Brain

Evolution of Mammalian Brain

Complexity Evolution at the Molecular Level

Gestalt Laws

Gestalt Laws in Perceptual Interpretation

Gestalt Perception

Gestalts and Consciousness

Neuronal Gestalts for the Dynamic Core

Hippocampus

Consolidation of Memories in Hippocampus and Ventral Striatum During Sleep

Nonconsolidated Hippocampus-Dependent Memories

Hippocampal Neurons Respond During Free Recall

Hippocampal CA3 Link to Ventral Tegmental Area

Dendritic Discrimination of Temporal Input Sequences

Hippocampal Learning and CA3 Output

Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Adult

Interneurons Project Long-Range in Hippocampus and Entorhinal Cortex

Information Processing in Brain

Brain as an Information Machine

Language

Broca’s Area Sequential Processing

Mirror Neurons and Language Evolution

Language Evolution from Africa

Limbic System

Ventral Striatum and Pleasure

Limbic System Diagram

Pain and Pleasure Systems

Pain Neural Pathways

Memory

Sensory and Memory Processing in Temporal Cortex

Enhancement of Consolidated Long-Term Memory

Emotional Memory Storage — Secondary Sensory Cortices

Grid Cells in the Human Memory Network

Memory — Recent Research

Memory Allocation in Neural Circuits

Memory as Synaptic Reconstruction

Memory Processing -- Creation to Consolidation

Nonconsolidated Hippocampus-Dependent Memories

Long-Term Memory Formation

Retrieval of Knowledge Enhances Learning

Memory Reconsolidation

Autoassociation Memory

Memory Trace Pattern

Memory is Susceptible to Social Influences

Episodic Memory — Medial Temporal Lobe

Hierarchical Organization of Memory Networks

Semantic Working Memory System

Dendritic Spines and Memories

Entorhinal Cortex for Temporal Association Memory

Mental Image

Modularity

Brodmann Areas for Aphasia

Brodmann Prefrontal Cortex

Brodmann's Cytoarchitectonic Map

Cortical Columns in Embryo Development

Hierarchical Organization of Cortical Surface Area

Functional Columnar Architecture Formation in Neocortex

Cortical Layers

Homunculus (Topographic) Diagram

Motivation

Junk Food Addiction

Pain and Pleasure Systems

Ventral Tegmental Area - Reward and Punishment

Movement Control

Dual Routes of Responses

Music and the Brain

Challenge of Music and Cognition

Music and the Brain -- Emotion and Movement

Music of the Cerebral Hemispheres

Music Processing Modularity

Neural network

Consciousness and Neural Network Architecture

Antonio Domasio’s Convergence Zones

Brainbow Labelling for Neuronal Circuitry

Connectivity of the Neural Network

Degeneracy -- Redundancy -- Fault Tolerance

Hierarchical Organization of Memory Networks

Hierarchical Neural Network Processing

Hierarchies of Recursion Loops

Neural Map Topography

Neural Network — Recent Research

Neural Network Connectivity

Perception--Action Cycle

Reticular Formation

Subcortical Parallel Loops

Three Topological Networks in Brain

Convergence-Divergence Zones

Convergence-Divergence Zones Architecture

Metaphor of Object-Oriented Programming

Rate Coding in Cortex

Dendritic computation of sensory input by cortical neurons

Dendritic Encoding of Sensory Stimuli by Cortical Interneurons

Dendritic Microcircuit Computations

Dendritic Mechanisms in Interneurons

Network Local Synaptic Connections

Cortical Networks for Vision and Language

Grid Cells and Theta Oscillations

Grid Cells dissociated from Head Turning

Neural Network Local Circuit Connections

Network Local Synaptic Connections

Network Inhibitory Plasticity

Development of Large-Scale Functional Brain Networks in Children

Neuromodulators

Dopamine Neurons

Dopaminergically Mediated Reward in Somatosensory Decision-Making

Long-Term Memory and Dopamine

Neuromodulatory Systems — Recent Research

Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Social Behavior

Dopamine in Stimulus–Reward Learning

Neurons and Synapses

Dendrite Synaptic Integration

Dendritic computation of sensory input by cortical neurons

Dendritic Mechanisms in Interneurons

Dendritic Plasticity and Input Feature Storage in Neurons

Dendritic Spines and Memories

Fast Vesicle Reloading Sustains High Bandwidth

Neuronal Diversity and Temporal Dynamics

Neurons and Synapses -- Recent Research

Spine Stabilization and Synaptic Enhancement

Stem-Cell-Based Neural Therapies

Variable Discharge of Cortical Neurons

Oscillations and Synchronization

Oscillatory Network Dynamics Mediate Visual Perception

Asynchronous State in Cortical Circuits

Gamma Oscillations in Somatosensory Cortex

Gamma Oscillations in Hippocampus

Hippocampal Theta Oscillations Are Travelling Waves

Modulation of Neuronal Interactions Through Neuronal Synchronization

Oscillation and Synchronization -- Recent Research

Phase Shifts of 40 Hz Oscillations

Spike Synchronization in Motor Cortical Function

Spike Synchrony in Small Populations of Neurons

Synchronization of Neuronal Activity by Interneurons

Synchronized Brain Interactions for Memory and Decision-Making

Synchronized Oscillations and Inhibitory Interneurons

Theta Rhythms Coordinate Hippocampal—Prefrontal Interactions

Perception

Bistable Perceptual Categorization

Bistable Vision and the Prefrontal Cortex

Facial Recognition and Communication

Perception, Face Recognition

Face Recognition in Distant Taxa

Plasticity

Chromatin Plasticity and Brain Function

Dendritic Plasticity and Input Feature Storage in Neurons

Dendritic Spine Remodelling

Basal Ganglia and Corticostriatal Pasticity in Learning

Network Inhibitory Plasticity

Plasticity of Synapses

Plasticity of Neural Connections — Recent Research

Synaptic Remodeling, and Network Activity

Amblyopia and Brain Cortical Plasticity

Donald Hebb — Scientific American article

Prefrontal cortex

Afferents and Efferents of the Prefrontal Cortex

Bistable Vision and the Prefrontal Cortex

Integration of What and Where in Prefrontal Cortex

Prefrontal Cortex

Prefrontal Cortex and Drug Addiction

Prefrontal Cortex and Emotion

Prefrontal Cortex and Motor Function

Prefrontal Cortex and Working Memory

Social Decisions in Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

Dopaminergically Mediated Reward in Somatosensory Decision-Making

Psychology

Human Preferences Sensitive to Inequality

Reentry and Recursion

Reentry and Recursion

Self

Personality and Individuality

Qualia as a Master Organ

Social Learning

Spatial Orientation

Sensory

Pain Neural Pathways

Sexual

Sex and Consciousness

Brain activation and sexual arousal

Brain Activation during Ejaculation

Brain During Sex

Sexually-based Love

Sleep and Dreaming

Sleep Necessity

Sleep and Synaptic Homeostasis

Allan Hobson’s AIM Model for Consciousness

Sleep Stages Diagram

Sleep in Individual Neurons

Stochastic Neuronal Behavior

Decorrelated Neuronal Firing in Cortical Microcircuits

Populations of Neural Activity

Probabilistic Reasoning by Neurons

Stochastic Nature of Neuronal Behavior

Thalamocortical system

Thalamocortical System Diagram

Thalamus Diagram

Association Cortices Connections

Unconscious processes

Unconscious Cognitive Processes

Unconscious Motivational Processes

Vision

Vision and Consciousness

Visual Cortex, Invariant Object Representation

Working Memory

Activated Long-Term Memory? -- Working Memory

Neural Substrates of Working Memory

Synaptic Theory of Working Memory

Semantic Working Memory System

Parietal Cortex Decision-Making

Prefrontal Cortex and Working Memory

Working Memory -- Recent Research

Working Memory Model (Covington)

Return to — Home Page

Link to — Consciousness Subject Outline

Further discussion — Covington Theory of Consciousness