Consciousness Flashcards
define consciousness
The state or quality of awareness. of our emotions memories and thoughts
The state of awareness creates….
A subjective experience.
Where do neuroscientists believe consciousness and the mind lie
In the neural process in the brain
Why do neuroscientists believe that consciousness lies in the brain
Because if a person has a neural disorder it affects their subjective experience
what is frontal lobotomy
A surgical treatment used in the 1940s that involved distroying the frontal lobe of the brain
What was frontal lobotomy used to cure
Psychosis, depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses
what happens in the brain that results in an epileptic seizure
Both sides of the brain fire wildly due to an imbalance of excitory and inhibitory neurona
What surgical precedure was used to cure epileptic seizures
split brain operation
what was involved in the split brain treatment
the cutting of the corpus collosum. which were the fibres that held to two cerebaral cortexes together.
The functions of our cerebral hemispheres
processing sensory information
regulating and controlling movement
what does the left cerebral hemisphere control
Controls movement in the right of our bodies
sensory information in the
right of body
what does the right cerebral hemisphere control
Controls movement in the left of our bodies
sensory information in the
left of body
What was the hypothesis or reasoning behind the split brain operation
Cutting the connecion between the left and right hemispheres will not allow runaway neurons to excite the other side of the brain
What does the corpus callosum do?
Connects the two hemispheres so they can share information so each side knows what the other is doing
after the split brain operatoon can the two hemispheres communicate with other parts of the brain
Yes, parts in their hemisphere and down the midbrain, hindbrain and spinal cord
how is movement in a person with a split brain coordinates
Parts of the lower brain do this by integrating information from the two hemispheres
why did scientists in the past conclude that the corpus callosum is not important
Because after examining split brain patients with test they found that all pschycological aspects were okay. Memory, IQ and motor skills.
Split brain patients reported that
They felt fine and that the frequency of seizures had reduced.
Afew however reported that their hand sometimes seemed to have a mind of its own and would actively worl against the task the patient was trying to accomplish
in split brain patients the parts controlled by the right hemisphere worked with the persons conscious intentions
false
The conflicts between the two hands in split brain patients last forever
No after a while they abated
what happened when a split brain patient touched an unknown object the could’t see with their left hand
They could not identify it verbally
When split-brain patients are shown an image only in their left visual field (left peripheral vision)
they could not identify if verbally
Where is human language and the ability to talk and write localized in the brain
in the left hemisphere
what happened when split brain patients were asked to explain an action done by their left hand
they made stories to explain them
what does the gazzaniga’s interpreter theory say
it aims to explain why people have a unified sense of self.
it says the brain makes narratives that make sense of the world
free will is an illusion and consciousness is just story telling
what was the basis for how things worked before the scientific revolution
purely based on intuition and deductive logic
mind body dualism by Rene Descartes
The body and the mind are two separate entities.
Kantian philosophy
consciousness can change natural laws
