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Tag Archives: Neuroscience
Maybe the brain communicates via electrical fields after all
An interesting finding by scientists at Case Western Reserve University, that neurons may communicate via electrical fields: Scientists think they’ve identified a previously unknown form of neural communication that self-propagates across brain tissue, and can leap wirelessly from neurons in … Continue reading
Is the brainstem conscious?
(Warning: neuroscience weeds and references to gruesome animal research.) The vast majority of neuroscientists see consciousness as a cortical phenomenon. It may be crucially dependent on sub-cortical and sub-cerebral structures, but subjective experience itself exists mainly or entirely in the … Continue reading
Blindsight explained and conscious perception
Warning: neuroscience weeds. Every so often we get into discussions about where in the brain consciousness lies. Sometimes it’s asserted to be in the brainstem, other times in the thalamus, sometimes in the parietal lobe, and yet other times in … Continue reading
Posted in Zeitgeist
Tagged Blindsight, Brain, Consciousness, Neuroscience, Perception, Science
69 Comments
On imagination, feelings, and brain regions
The last post on feelings generated some excellent conversations. In a couple of them, it was pointed out that my description of feelings put a lot of work on the concept of imagination, and that maybe I should expand on … Continue reading
Posted in Mind and AI
Tagged affect consciousness, Brain, Consciousness, emotions, Mind, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
62 Comments
The construction of feelings
I’ve had a number of conversations lately on the subject of feelings, the affective states of having valences about conscious perception, such as fear, pain, joy, hunger, etc. Apparently a lot of people view feelings as a very mysterious phenomenon. … Continue reading
Posted in Mind and AI
Tagged affect consciousness, Brain, Consciousness, emotions, Mind, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
123 Comments
Could a neuroscientist understand a microprocessor? Is that a relevant question?
A while back, Julia Galef on Rationally Speaking interviewed Eric Jonas, one of the authors of a study that attempted to use neuroscience techniques on a simple computer processor. The field of neuroscience has been collecting more and more data, … Continue reading
Steven Pinker: From neurons to consciousness
This lecture from Steven Pinker has been around for a while, but it seems to get at a question a few people have asked me recently: how does the information processing of neurons and synapses lead to conscious perception? Pinker doesn’t answer this … Continue reading
Posted in Zeitgeist
Tagged Brain, Consciousness, Mind, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Steven Pinker
14 Comments
Is consciousness only in the back of the brain?
There’s an interesting debate going on among some neuroscientists about which parts of the brain are involved in subjective experience. On the one side are Christof Koch, Giuilio Tononi, and colleagues who argue that consciousness exists wholly in the back of … Continue reading
Posted in Mind and AI
Tagged Brain, Consciousness, Frontal lobe, Mind, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Prefrontal cortex, subjective experience
20 Comments
Two brain science podcasts worth checking out
As my long time readers will know, I’m very interested in the mind, and my preferred way to explore it is through science, notably neuroscience or cognitive psychology, or with science oriented philosophy. With that in mind, I want to … Continue reading
