Consciousness

Question 1

What are possible criteria for having ‘consciousness’?

Answer 1

Basic behavior
Complex behavior
Similar brain anatomy & physiology as in humans
Computational & representational abilities

Question 2

What is direct and indirect evidence that consciousness exists?

Answer 2

Direct: Being conscious yourself
Indirect: External evidence

Question 3

What is phenomenal content?

Answer 3

Having qualitatively rich experiences - content of percepts, dreams, imagery

Question 4

What are modes of consciousness?

Answer 4

Perception, imagery, dreaming (phenomenal consciousness)

Question 5

What is NOT ‘consciousness’?

Answer 5

• Decision-making/volition
• self awarness

Question 6

Are memory, emotion, motricity, language bare-bone necessities for consciousness?

Answer 6

nope, you can loose them and still be conscious

Question 7

What is conscious vision?

Answer 7

What cannot be peeled away

Question 8

In which components can conscious vision be broken into?

Answer 8

Color vision (V4/inferotemporal patches)
Motion vision (MT/V5)
Form and face vision (FFA,IT)
Vision in entire hemifield

Question 9

What happens when a person has a stroke in the MT/V5?

Answer 9

Snapshot vision –> motion blindness: Akinotopsia

Question 10

What can happen when there is a stroke in the FFA area?

Answer 10

Visual agnosia

Question 11

What is consciousness in other modalities depended on?
(auditory, somatosensory, olfaction, taste)

Answer 11

Thalamocortical system

Question 12

What are hallmarks in consciousness?

Answer 12

• Qualitative (multimodel) richness
• Situatedness & immersiveness –> how you look at something
• Integration & unity –> multiple signals create a unit sensation
• Dynamics & stability –> flow of consciousness = experience changes but also stable-imaging
• Interpretation, interference, intentionality

Question 13

What is the definition of conscious experience?

Answer 13

Inferential presentation that is spatially encompassing and multimodally rich

Question 14

What is consciousness good for?

Answer 14

• Reflexes & habits (performed largely unconsciously + limited action depth)
• Goal-directed behavior (requieres representation of the goal before action –> to select the goal, the brain must be aware of the whole situation & body state)
• Complex multi-factorial decisions

Question 15

What is the global workspace theory?

Answer 15

Sees consciousness as a global workspace which is a hub from which important sensory information can be broadcast via corticocortical fibers

–> pre-conscious vs conscious stages of processing by crossing a threshold (ignition)

Question 16

What is the critique on the GW theory?

Answer 16

• does not adress phenomenal content
• GW models are classic neural network models –> linked to prefrontal cortex

Question 17

What is the Integrated Information Theory?

Answer 17

Conscious state is a higher degree of differentiation of information coded –> higher degree of integration

Question 18

What is the critique on the IIT?

Answer 18

• Key element = information –> only in sense of staitstical dependence (not content)
• Also silent neurons contribute to conscious experiences
• Does not explain ‘intentionality’
• Heavily underconstrained: leads to Panpsychism

Question 19

Predicitve processing of consciousness can be through the hierarchy in visual cortical areas.
How is the rank in hierarchy determined?

Answer 19

• By ascending vs. descending projections received and emitting feedback/forward

Question 20

What brain areas do not restrictly conform to the hierarchy in the visual cortical areas?

Answer 20

Prefrontal and temporal regions

Question 21

What are possible function of the hierarchy in the visual cortical areas?

Answer 21

• Predictive processing
• Low-level processing of local features to high-level, wide-field processing of complex objects

Question 22

What are 2 ways to interpret neural responses in the sensory cortex?

Answer 22

First classic interpretation: Brain responds to features in the world
Second interpretation: brain constructs explanations of whats out there

Question 23

What is the goal of deep predicitve coding?

Answer 23

Representation of causal structure underlying sensory inputs

Question 24

What are the 2 processes in deep predictive coding?

Answer 24

• Inference: infer causes sensory input
• Learning: adapt the model to better infer causes

Question 25

Where are object-selective neurons found?

Answer 25

Inferotemporal cortex