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PS3822 - Consciousness > Wk12 - The Biological Basis of Consciousness - Enablers > Flashcards

Wk12 - The Biological Basis of Consciousness - Enablers Flashcards

1
Q

What 3 things does consciousness not require?

A

Self-consciousness

Language

Emotion

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2
Q

Why doesn’t consciousness require self-consciousness?

A

You can be in a state of ‘flow’ when watching a film or playing a game and be conscious but not be thinking about yourself

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3
Q

In what way does consciousness not require language?

A

Babies don’t have language but they are still conscious of things. Babies still experience and enjoy things even when they cannot describe them.

You don’t need to use language to be conscious of experiencing the colour red.

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4
Q

Do we need emotion to experience consciousness?

A

No. We can consciously experience things like colours in a non-emotional way.

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5
Q

How does the fact that self-consciousness, language, and emotion are not necessary for consciousness relate to the biology underlying consciousness?

A

We know that we don’t need to look for brain areas which underly self-consciousness, language, or emotion because these things are not necessary for consciousness.

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6
Q

What are enablers for consciousness?

A

Brain regions or connections that are required for consciousness

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7
Q

What are neural correlates of consciousness?

A

The minimal amount of neural mechanisms that are sufficient for a specific percept of consciousness (both necessary and sufficient)

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8
Q

What can cause global disorders of consciousness?

A

Injury to the brain regions responsible for arousal

Overdose on medications or drugs

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9
Q

How do we refer to disorders that are the state in-between life and death?

A

Global disorders of consciousness

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10
Q

Can we know whether patients with global disorders of consciousness are conscious or not?

A

Sometimes

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11
Q

What are 3 global disorders of consciousness?

A

Coma

Vegetative state

Minimally conscious state

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12
Q

Define coma

A

Complete absence of consciousness

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13
Q

Define vegetative state

A

Periodic sleep-wake transitions

Open eyes and spontaneous reflexes when ‘awake’

Grimaces, head turns, groans (undirected movements)

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14
Q

Define minimally conscious state

A

Moments of awakenings with purposeful movements

More directed reactions to stimuli

Some conscious reactions

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15
Q

Which state is it hard to determine whether there is or isn’t consciousness?

A

Vegetative state - may appear to perform conscious, purposeful actions but it is hard to tell if these are conscious movements or not

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16
Q

What can minimally conscious patients do?

A

Can occasionally communicate with people around them

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17
Q

What is the difference between states of consciousness and correlates of consciousness?

A

States - graded from being unconscious to very conscious

Correlates - you are either conscious or unconscious of something (e.g., a mug). All-or-nothing.

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18
Q

How do persistent vegetative state patients differ from minimally conscious patients?

A

PVS - often no consciousness, some arousal

MCS - some consciousness, higher level of arousal

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19
Q

How much consciousness/arousal is there when someone is sleepwalking?

A

Little consciousness

Very high arousal

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20
Q

How much consciousness/arousal is there during REM sleep?

A

Lots of consciousness

Low arousal

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21
Q

Why is it a problem that we cannot see if PVS patients are conscious or not?

A

We don’t know what their quality of life is like. They might be locked in experiencing things but being unable to move or communicate.

We don’t want to treat someone in PVS as if they are not conscious, in case they actually are conscious.

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22
Q

What study has looked at whether people in PVS have consciousness or not?

A

Owens et al. (2006)

Patients are instructed to imagine playing tennis or visiting all of the rooms in their house

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23
Q

What brain area would we expect to be active if healthy people imagine playing tennis?

A

Motor area

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24
Q

What brain area would we expect to be active if healthy people imagine navigating through a house?

A

Parahippocampal gyrus

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25
Q

What did Owens (2006) study find regarding the patient in a vegetative state?

A

The patient did not physically respond or show signs of consciousness

fMRI brain signal showed brain activity similar to healthy control participants - there was activity in motor area & parahippocampal gyrus

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26
Q

Why is the ability to perform mental imagery a useful indicator of consciousness?

A

It is a complex, purposeful thing to do and takes place over several minutes. It is unlikely to occur sub-consciously or automatically.

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27
Q

Describe a follow-up study which aimed to determine the conscious state of vegetative state patients

A

Monti et al. (2010)

54 patients were asked ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions related to their family. E.g., the names or number of siblings.

Patients were told to imagine playing tennis if they wanted to say ‘Yes’.

Patients were told to imagine walking through the rooms in their house if they wanted to say ‘No’.

28
Q

What area of the brain would light up if the patient wanted to say yes?

A

Motor cortex

29
Q

What area of the brain would light up if the patient wanted to say no?

A

Parahippocampal gyrus

30
Q

What are the useful implications of studies investigating the consciousness of vegetative state patients?

A

We are able to communicate with the patient if they are conscious but cannot physically show that they are conscious.

We can improve their quality of life by giving them more control over their lives.

We can ask the patient if they are in pain etc.

31
Q

What type of brain imaging study can be used to determine the consciousness of vegetative state patients?

A

fMRI

functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

32
Q

What type of brain imaging technique can be used to predict who will/won’t regain consciousness?

A

EEG

Electroencephalography

33
Q

Describe Wijnen et al.’s (2007) study of tones

A

10 vegetative state patients

Rated on their level of consciousness before and after on a Likert scale of 1 (coma) to 8 (conscious)

Auditory task of 85% standard and 15% deviant tones

Elicited a mis-matched negativity

ERP study investigating whether patients in a vegetative state would respond to tones in the same way as people who were conscious

34
Q

Is the ERP to the standard or deviant tone more negative?

A

ERP is more negative in response to the deviant tone. Produces a reliable negative waveform at 400ms in standard participants.

35
Q

How is mis-matched negativity (MMN) calculated?

A

Standard tone wave - deviant tone wave

36
Q

What are the 4 categories on the Level of Consciousness scale?

A

Coma

Vegetative state

Minimally conscious state

Consciousness

37
Q

When were patients in Wijnen’s study rated on the Likert scale of level of consciousness?

A

9 days after being admitted to hospital

At recovery/6 weeks later if not recovered

38
Q

What did MMN amplitudes at first-test predict?

A

Predicted Level of Consciousness at discharge

Smaller MMN amplitudes at first-test = lower levels of consciousness at discharge

Larger MMN amplitudes at first-test = higher level of consciousness at discharge

39
Q

Did patients have the same or different levels of consciousness at the beginning of Wijnen’s study?

A

Same level of consciousness at baseline

40
Q

What aspect of Wijnen’s study could predict whether patients would get better/regain consciousness or not?

A

MMN

41
Q

Why is Wijnen’s tone study useful?

A

Allows us to predict whether someone will get better/regain consciousness or not.

Tells us the kind of networks which might be involved in consciousness (e.g., brain areas which generate the MMN) and the recovery of consciousness

42
Q

Define MMN amplitude

A

How different/large the change was from the normal stimulus to the deviant stimulus

43
Q

What would a larger MMN amplitude difference between the normal and deviant stimuli mean?

A

Larger amplitude/difference between stimuli = the bigger the mismatched negativity = more likelihood of the participant recovering

44
Q

What kind of correlation is there between MMN and consciousness at discharge?

A

Strong negative correlation (the larger/more negative the MMN amplitude, the more conscious the person was at discharge)

45
Q

What is MMN amplitude related to?

A

A higher level of processing

46
Q

Where does MMN happen?

A

Anterior cingulate cortex (frontal)

47
Q

What frontal regions seem vital in whether someone can regain consciousness or not?

A

Higher order frontal regions

48
Q

What happens if the frontal lobes are damaged?

A

Changes to personality

Interference with planning/task-shifting/executive function/higher processing tasks

49
Q

Would damage to the frontal lobes cause any global loss of consciousness?

A

No - large parts of the cerebral cortex can be damaged without any overall loss of function

50
Q

What areas of the brain are vital for consciousness?

A

Sub-cortical midline structures

51
Q

What happens if sub-cortical midline structures are damaged?

A

Can cause global disorders of loss of consciousness. Can be permanent.

52
Q

What do sub-cortical midline structures control?

A

Control the degree of brain arousal that is needed for awareness

53
Q

What brain area is necessary/a key enabler for consciousness?

A

The Reticular Activating System

54
Q

What is the reticular activating system?

A

A collection of nuclei in the upper brain stem and hypothalamus

55
Q

What do nuclei in the RAS release?

A

Modulatory neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylecholine, dopamine)

56
Q

What do modulatory neurotransmitters do?

A

Send the arousal to the rest of the cortex to keep us awake when they wake us up

57
Q

What connects the brainstem to the cortex?

A

The Ascending Reticular Activation System

58
Q

What does the Ascending Reticular Activation System consist of?

A

Several neuronal circuits which connect the brainstem to the cortex

Several brainstem nuclei

Non-specific hypothalamic nuclei

Hypothalamus

Basal forebrain

59
Q

Where do the ARAS neuronal circuits originate?

A

Reticular formation of the brainstem

60
Q

How do the ARAS neuronal circuits work?

A

They project from the reticular formation of the brainstem through synaptic relays in the intralaminar nucleus of the thalamus to the cerebral cortex

61
Q

How many intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus are there?

A

5

62
Q

Where are the 5 intralaminar nuclei located?

A

They are clustered around the midline

63
Q

What do the intralaminar nuclei do?

A

Receive input from the brainstem nuclei and the frontal lobes

Send their output throughout the cerebral cortex

64
Q

What can lesions in intralaminar thalamic nuclei cause?

A

Loss of consciousness (can be complete loss/permanent)

65
Q

What nuclei are vital for consciousness?

A

Intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus - we need these in order to be conscious of anything at all

PS3822 - Consciousness (4 decks)

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