Unit 3 - 6: Consciousness Flashcards
Consciousness
State of being aware that we are conscious
Elements of consciousness
- Emotion/ empathy
- Imitation
- Mirror recognition
- Tool use
- Metacognition
- Theory of mind
- Language
Emotion/empathy
Possession of complex emotions and imagining others with emotions (primates, dolphins, hippos, rodents, vertebrates)
Imitation
Mimic the action of others (awareness stepping stone) (many species, even octopus)
Mirror recognition
Ability to recognize self in mirror (great apes, dolphins, magpies, elephants)
Tool use
Using found objects to achieve goals (primates, elephants, otters, dolphins, crows, gulls)
Metacognition
Thinking about thinking, able to consider one’s mind (primates, dolphins)
Theory of mind
Insight to the lives of others, recognizing that others have their own things going on (humans, chimpanzees)
Language
System of symbols with specific meaning and grammar that can convey to someone else who speaks the same langauge (only humans)
Default mode network
Underlies introspection, determines consciousness
Default mode network parts (5)
- Prefrontal cortex
- Insula
- Inferior parietal lobe
- Lateral temporal cortex
- Hippocampus formation
Electrical stimulation of claustrum
Loss of consciousness
Easy problem of consciousness
Understanding how particular patterns of neural activity create conscious experiences (someday will be solved)
Hard problem of consciousness
Can’t map a subjective experience, can know what neurons cause an experience for someone but can’t ask them how it feels.
Qualia
Subjective experiences
Explanatory gap
No fully reductive explanation of subjective experiences
Theories of consciousness (3)
- High order theories
- Global workspace theories
- Integrated info theory
High order theories
High order Brain networks learn to refractive representations encoded in lower order networks (lower order senses, higher order “I am aware of”
Global workspace theory
Anatomically widespread higher processing that can be accessed by local processors; ignition connects them to create consciousness of an experience
Integrated information theory
Conscious experience of something comes from the activation of the minimal number of connections required to represent a particular thing
Near death experiences
Signify to some people that consciousness can persists without the brain (dualism)
Free will
Ability of our conscious self to decide our actions moment to moment
Free will in the brain proof
Activity in IPS and prefrontal cortex
Free will in the brain against
EEG recordings indicate preparation to move occurred before people consciously decide to choose (it was the brain and consciousness was late)
Executive function
Suite of high level cognitive processes that control and organize lower level cognitive functions in line with our thoughts and feeling
1. Smooth task switching between different cognitive operations
2. Continual updating of the cognitive plan based on new info and contents of working memory
3. Timely inhibition of responses that would compromise the plan
Neuroeconomics
Study of making decisions based on money risk and reward
Valuation network
Ranks choices based on worth and potential reward
Choice network
Sifts through the validated choices and makes the decision