Hidden Spring- Chap 3, Cortical Fallacy Flashcards
What is the difference between blindness and loss of visual memory?
In blindness, one cannot actually receive visual input from the eyes. In loss of visual memory, one can see but not interpret what is being seen. It’s as if something they’ve seen regularly has lost its recognizability
What is agnosia?
The inability to interpret sensory information
In the late 1800’s why was the cortex seen as the seat of consciousness and the sub cortex as unconscious?
How did this influence philosophy at the time?
It was believed that because sensory and perceptual nerves travel up to the cortex, they give rise to consciousness through experiencing of the environment which is then compared to memory images from past experiences, therefore contributing to the persons consciousness and understanding of reality. The sub cortex was seen as simply reflexive in its duties, and therefore unconscious.
This gave rise to the philosophical belief that mind and body are separate entities.
What was the insular cortex thought to be responsible for, and how did Damasio’s experiments with patient B change that understanding?
Interoceptive awareness and the feelings that contribute to being a sentient being.
However, in patient B, both insular cortices were destroyed yet the man was still able to feel and experience himself, as well as reference himself. In fact, the man was more emotional after this event.
What 3 cortical structures had been thought to give rise to consciousness (of self) and what roles do they have?
Insular cortex- interoceptive awareness and generation of feelings for the sentient self
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex- labeling and interpretation of feelings
Anterior cingulate- self related processing and willpower
Are all cortical functions inherently conscious?
No, as seen through the experiment of folks who were flashed images of 2 people along with negative attributes for one and positive for the other. After briefly seeing the attributes, everyone preferred the person whose photo was associated with positive rather than negative, however no one knew why they preferred that.
Behaviorist and cognitive scientists belief on consciousness is devoid of one major thing. What is it and why does it matter?
They don’t believe feelings contribute towards consciousness. This is inaccurate because we can often feel something and have that be the first level of consciousness, however not know why we are feeling that way.
Behaviourists and cognitive psychologists believe that reward from stimulus governs consciousness. Why is that inaccurate?
It is the mind that subjectively interprets whether something is reward or punishment, not the stimulus itself.
Why did 19th century pioneers believe the cortex was the seat of consciousness?
Sensation was believed to give rise to consciousness, and since sense organs had connections into the cortex, it was believed consciousness, therefore, arose there.
What is one of the largest dogmas in the field of medicine?
The cortex is the organ of the mind
What is one of the biggest arguments against the cortex NOT being the seat of consciousness?
In folks who have removed pieces of their cortex, they are still able to communicate how they feel and what they are experiencing
