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Scientific Understanding of Consciousness |
Topics List
For each of the topics discussions I have tried to answer the following questions and to include additional supporting material: How does this topic relate to consciousness? What are the biological mechanisms of this topic? In many cases only a sketchy understanding may currently be known about the topic. (My own ignorance of details may be a major contributor to the sketchy understanding.) Paraphrase statements by experts relating to the topic. Experts often have their on ad hoc working hypotheses and definitions of terms. Among experts, there are often inconsistent interpretations of current data. Abstracts from Science and Nature journals, which can give a glimpse of current research on a topic. These few abstracts give only a minute glimpse of the extent and depth of current scientific research on consciousness topics. Most of these consciousness topics are being intensively researched with results reported in many, many specialized scientific journals available in the libraries of research universities. I try to make sure the statements I make are consistent with at least one expert. Topic linksAbnormal Function of Brain – studies of the abnormal functioning of the brain can provide insight for the functioning of consciousness Amygdala — Attention – Visual attention, feedback and synchronization from parietal cortex to sensory areas Auditory Perception and Music — Cerebellum -- Cognition, Emotion, Motivation – Complexity, Self-Organization, Emergence - Consciousness as ‘Remembered Present’ – Mental object convolved with Sense-of-Self Core Consciousness – Edelman’s term Primary Consciousness refers essentially the same concept as Damasio’s term Core Consciousness. Core consciousness refers to the consciousness non-human animals have, typically mammals and perhaps some rudimentary aspects in reptiles. Insects, for example, probably don’t have consciousness. Dynamic Core of Consciousness – The Dynamic Core hypothesis formulated by Gerald Edelman is the fundamental neurobiological foundation of my concept of consciousness. The dynamic core is a constantly changing hierarchical web of reentrant neural activity (perhaps 10-20% of total neural activity) that mediates a mental pattern of thought at any one instant. Embryonic and Early-Childhood Development – Nature and Nurture, both contribute to synaptic connections of neural circuits. Emotion - FAPs - Fixed Action Patterns — Feelings — Hippocampus -- Human-type Consciousness - Edelman’s term Higher-order Consciousness and Damasio’s term Extended Consciousness refer to essentially the same concepts. I have coined the term Human-type Consciousness to refer to both researcher’s concepts. Human-type consciousness, as the name implies, refers to the consciousness we all experience in all its aspects. Human-type consciousness includes Core Consciousness. Intelligence – Multiple kinds of intelligence Language – Learning — Memory – Declarative memory, Procedural memory, Working memory; Short-term, Long-term memory; Hippocampus; Consolidation of memory Mental Image, Map, Neural Pattern, Image, Object, etc. – multiple terms for similar concepts Modeling Brain Functionality of Consciousness - Motivation – connects the prefrontal cortex decision process to the premotor cortex; activates the basal ganglia, cerebellum, spinal cord. Dopaminergic projection from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens Movement Control – Fixed Action Patterns (FAPS), premotor cortex, motor cortex, basal ganglia, pons, cerebellum Neurotransmitters – Excitatory (), Inhibitory (GABA); Modulators (Dopamine, Serotonin) Orientation -- Oscillation, Synchronization — Perception, Memory, Consciousness — Plasticity of Neural Connections -- Brain’s 1015 synapses are constantly being modified, thereby providing a reality emulator for prediction and decision making Reentry, Oscillation, Synchronization – Reverberate connections in neural networks Samples -- Sense of Self – Autonomic nervous system, Self preservation Sleep, Dreaming, Memory Consolidation, Creativity – Complexity, Self-Assembly of neural networks Topological networks (Three) in the brain -- (1) Thalamocortical system, (2) Parallel, unidirectional pathways through the basal ganglia, (3) Fan-out meshwork of diffusely projecting neurotransmitter modulatory neurons emanating from brain stem nuclei Vision – Vision is not required for consciousness. Blind people have consciousness. Unconscious Processes support consciousness
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