Problem 1

Question 1

Third person data

Answer 1

Refer to

1. brain processes
2. behavior
3. environmental interaction

which is measured by means of EEG, brain imaging etc

Question 2

First person data

Answer 2

Refers to the subjective conscious experience of things

–> the central data we want science to explain

BUT: as soon as one tries to verbalize ones experience or defers from present moment this turns into 3rd person data

Question 3

Formalism

Answer 3

Refers to simple language that is imprecise + relies an individuals perspective

–> used to collect 1st person data but not really accurate

BUT: there are attempts to develop a more structures form

Question 4

What is the science of consciousness all about ?

Answer 4

About relating first person data to third person data

–> explaining subjective experiences, but can’t be expressed only by 3rd person data, even though there might be a strong connection

Question 5

Neuro-correlates of consciousness (NCC)

Answer 5

Refers to the neural system that is primarily associated with conscious experience

–> cannot be measured directly

Question 6

Pre-experimental bridging principles

Answer 6

Refer to the criteria that must be fulfilled to say that

1. someone is conscious
2. what they are conscious of

–> we thus interpret physical systems to judge the presence of consciousness

Question 7

Principle of verbal report

Answer 7

Suggests that when something is verbally reported, one is conscious

Question 8

Principle of availability for global control

Answer 8

Suggests that if info is available for response in many motor modalities, one is conscious

–> 1st person evidence

e.g.: decision making, awareness of own behavior

Question 9

Rational reconstructions

Answer 9

Refers to sth that is produced when searching for NCCs, by using the principles

Question 10

After rational reconstruction, 6 consequences may follow.

Name them.

Answer 10

1. Characterization of the neural correlates of consciousness

2. Explanation of global availability (GA)

• if we know about the relevant neural processes, we’ll know how info is made available for global control in the brain

3. There are many neural correlates of consciousness

• because there are many mechanisms of GA

4. Consciousness model

• which would be functionally localizable

5. NC of visual consciousness

• finding out whether they are in V1, which depends on which visual area is most directly implicated in GA

6. Theory of consciousness due to NCC

• NCC is discovered

Question 11

Vegetative state

Answer 11

Being awake from coma but showing no signs of awareness

–> diagnosis depends on the evidence of behavior in response to external stimuli

Question 12

Name the 4 attributes of conscious processing. (Naccache)

Answer 12

1. Reporting
2. Active maintenance of mental representations
3. Strategical processing
4. Spontaneous intentional behavior

–> without these abilities, one is not conscious

Question 13

In which way is an fMRI like the photograph of a house ?

(Burton)

Answer 13

It can show which rooms are lighted, even the amount of electricity that is used but not what is going on or if there is anyone at home + aware off the light

Question 14

Fundamental theory of consciousness

Answer 14

Suggests that we might be able to come up with broad connection principles which may lead to a universal law that underlies consciousness

–> for this we need good methodologies for collecting data

Question 15

How well developed are the methodologies for collecting first vs third person data ?

Answer 15

1. 3rd person data

• well developed
  ex. : EEG etc

2. 1st person data

• not well developed
  ex. : introspection

Question 16

What are the most difficult obstacles in developing 1st person methodologies ?

Answer 16

1. Lack of incorrigible access to our experiences
2. Introspecting an experience changes it
3. It is impossible to access all our experiences at once
4. Possibility of “grant illusions”

Question 17

What are the most difficult obstacles of 1st person formalisms ?

Answer 17

Uncertainty if

1. the content of an experience can be wholly captured in language
2. a description can be meaningful, when a person did not have a certain experience

Question 18

Is it possible to collect 1st person data about emotional experience ?

Answer 18

No, not really as

1. people use introspection
   * unreliable
2. emotions are especially inexpressible, if one hasn’t experienced the emotion before
3. emotions vary on dimensions
   * duration, intensity, affect, etc

Question 19

Why is it said that we “take a leap into the epistemological unknown” when relaying on the bridging principles ?

Answer 19

Because, as soon as we draw a conclusion about consciousness, we have gone beyond the information given

Question 20

What are the bridging principles based on ?

Answer 20

1. Conceptual judgments about what counts as a conscious process
2. Info taken from our 1st person perspective on consciousness

Question 21

How does one produce a rational reconstruction ?

Answer 21

1. Using a bridging principle that one finds plausible
2. Doing empirical research
   * when a functional property is present, it should be correlated w/ a specific neural process
3. Combining the pre-empirical premise + empirical result to conclude whether this certain neural process is a NCC candidate

Question 22

In Owens experiment, the patient was presented with

a) spoken sentences b) acoustically matched noise sequences

to discover wether an fMRI can detect conscious awareness in the patient who’s is assumed to be vegetative.

What did the results yield ?

Answer 22

Speech-specific activity in the middle + superior temporal gyri in both hemispheres

–> similar to response in healthy people

Question 23

In Owens experiment the patient was also presented with ambiguous words to discover whether an fMRI can detect conscious awareness in the patient who’s is assumed to be vegetative.

What did the results yield ?

Answer 23

Response in left interior frontal region

–> similar to the response in healthy people

Question 24

Does an appropriate neural response mean that the person is consciously aware and not vegetative then ?

If not, how can one discover if they are really consciously aware ?

Answer 24

1. No, some aspects of cognition can go on in the absence of awareness
2. The patients were given spoken instructions to perform mental imagery tasks

–> these neural responses were equal to the ones served in healthy individuals

Question 25

Naccache diasagreed with Owens notion that his vegetative patient was actually conscious.

Why is that ?

Answer 25

According to him the patient should then be able to engage in intentional motor acts, given that she didn’t suffer from any structural lesions of the motor pathways

–> we cannot determine whether a person is conscious solely on the basis of a question-brain activation method

Question 26

Burton also disagreed with Owens notion that the vegetive patient was actually conscious.

Why is that ?

Answer 26

According to him, it is unclear whether fMRI activity really responds or corresponds to consciousness, and can thus confirm consciousness

–> because, when judging a patients degree of awareness, it is important to distinguish between

a) choices that can only be made conscious
b) choices that occur outside of consciousness

Question 27

Minimally conscious state

Answer 27

Refers to a state where a patient shows inconsistent signs of awareness, but remain unable to communicate interactively

Question 28

What are the goals of clinically assessing minimally conscious state patients ?

Answer 28

1. Determining whether the patient can purposefully respond to stimulation
2. Harnessing + nurturing any available response through intervention

Question 29

The disorders of consciousness are misdiagnosed in 40% of all cases. To avoid this Monti performed a study.

What was the aim of Montis study on patients in minimally conscious states ?

Answer 29

1. Determining which proportion of the patients could modulate their fMRI response
2. Developing a method that allows such patients to functionally communicate yes-or-no responses by modulating their own brain activity

Question 30

What kind of Imagery tasks did Monti use on his patients ?

Name + describe them.

Answer 30

All participants were asked to perform two imagery tasks + alternate 30 sec of imagery w/ 30 sec of rest

1. Motor imagery task

• imagine standing still on a tennis court and to swing an arm to hit the ball

2. Spatial imagery task

• imagine navigating the streets of a familial city

=> Each scan included 5 rest-imagery cycles

Question 31

Monti also used a communication task on his patients. Describe it.

Answer 31

Subjects underwent fMRI during which they attempted to answer questions by modulating their brain activity

a) Motor imagery = yes
b) Spatial imagery = no

–> cues were delivered once at the beginning of each period

Question 32

What did the results of the imagery vs communication tasks yield ?

Answer 32

1. Motor imagery activates SMA; spatial imagery activates parrahippocampal gyrus
   * 5 patients could willfully modulate their brain activity
2. All questions where answered with 100% accuracy in the communication task