Liljenström / Århem Consciousness Transitions

Phylogenetic, Ontogenetic and Physiological Aspects
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-08-055463-1
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 348 Seiten

It was not long ago when the consciousness was not considered a problem for science. However, this has now changed and the problem of consciousness is considered the greatest challenge to science. In the last decade, a great number of books and articles have been published in the field, but very few have focused on the how consciousness evolves and develops, and what characterizes the transitions between different conscious states, in animals and humans. This book addresses these questions. Renowned researchers from different fields of science (including neurobiology, evolutionary biology, ethology, cognitive science, computational neuroscience and philosophy) contribute with their results and theories in this book, making it a unique collection of the state-of-the-art of this young field of consciousness studies.
First book on the topicFocus on different levels of consciousness, including: Evolutionary, developmental, and functionalHighly interdisciplinary

Autoren/Hrsg.

Liljenström, Hans

Århem, Peter

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2;Table of Contents;4
3;Preface;6
4;Contributors;10
5;Chapter 1. Beyond Cognition – On Consciousness Transitions;12
5.1;1. What are the problems?;12
5.2;2. Knowledge in an evolutionary perspective;14
5.3;3. Evolution of cognition;17
5.4;4. Evolving consciousness;24
5.5;5. Philosophical implications;30
5.6;6. Conclusions;32
5.7;References;33
6;Chapter 2. The Remote Roots of Consciousness in Fruit-fly Selective Attention?;38
6.1;1. Introduction;38
6.2;2. Behavioural selection;40
6.3;3. Behavioural suppression;40
6.4;4. Fly virtual reality;42
6.5;5. Alternating selection;43
6.6;6. Salience and memory;44
6.7;7. Mushroom bodies;44
6.8;8. The missing piece;46
6.9;9. Selective attention in the fly brain;47
6.10;10. Arousal in the fly brain;49
6.11;Acknowledgements;52
6.12;References;52
7;Chapter 3. The Evolution of Consciousness in Animals;56
7.1;1. Introduction: The definition of animal consciousness;56
7.2;2. Evolution and adaptation;61
7.3;3. Consciousness in animals;63
7.4;4. Discussion;81
7.5;References;83
8;Chapter 4. On the Origin of Consciousness – Some Amniote Scenarios;88
8.1;1. Introduction;88
8.2;2. The basic consciousness criteria are anthropocentric;89
8.3;3. Sharpening the consciousness criteria — some principal consciousness-brain theories;90
8.4;4. Testing the principal criteria — the case of general anaesthesia;91
8.5;5. The phylogenetic origin of consciousness;93
8.6;6. Reconsidering reptilian cognitive behaviour;100
8.7;7. Conclusions;101
8.8;References;103
9;Chapter 5. A Bird’s Eye View of Consciousness;108
9.1;1. Introduction;108
9.2;2. Which organisms are conscious?;108
9.3;3. Function of feelings;110
9.4;4. Emergence of consciousness;111
9.5;5. Vertebrate intelligence;112
9.6;6. Complex learning;117
9.7;7. Association formation and causality;118
9.8;8. Language;120
9.9;9. Association formation in humans;122
9.10;10. Infantile amnesia;124
9.11;11. Language and self;127
9.12;12. Self and consciousness;128
9.13;13. Concluding comments;129
9.14;References;130
10;Chapter 6. The Molecular Biology of Consciousness;134
10.1;1. Introduction;134
10.2;2. Modelling consciousness: the neuronal workspace hypothesis;137
10.3;3. The neuronal nicotinic receptors: allosteric membrane proteins that modulate higher brain function;138
10.4;4. The integration of neuronal nicotinic receptors to the neuronal work-space architecture;143
10.5;5. Nicotinic receptors and states of consciousness in the mouse;144
10.6;6. Nicotinic receptors and nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsies;146
10.7;7. Nicotinic receptors and the content of consciousness;147
10.8;8. The joint recovery of exploratory behaviour and reward function by targeted re-expression of nAChR subunit;151
10.9;9. Is the mouse a useful animal model to investigate consciousness?;153
10.10;Acknowledgments;160
10.11;References;160
11;Chapter 7. The Emergence of Consciousness in the Newborn;172
11.1;1. Introduction;172
11.2;2. Neurons - the atoms of consciousness;172
11.3;3. The localization of consciousness;173
11.4;4. Developmental anatomy of consciousness;174
11.5;5. The neurochemistry of consciousness;175
11.6;6. Methods to study consciousness in the fetus and the infant;175
11.7;7. Components of consciousness;177
11.8;8. Integration of the components;182
11.9;9. Cyber-babies;183
11.10;10. When does minimal consciousness emerge?;183
11.11;Acknowledgement;185
11.12;References;185
12;Chapter 8. An Inside-Out Paradigm for Consciousness and Intelligence;188
12.1;1. Introduction;188
12.2;2. The new paradigm;189
12.3;3. The consciousness mechanism;192
12.4;4. Anatomical and physiological basis;194
12.5;5. Intelligence and autism;197
12.6;6. Epilogue: A physics of thought?;199
12.7;Acknowledgements;200
12.8;References;200
13;Chapter 9. Consciousness Without a Cerebral Cortex;204
13.1;1. Introduction;204
13.2;2. Clinical beginnings;206
13.3;3. Bringing the centrencephalic proposal up to date;210
13.4;4. Integration for action;215
13.5;5. Consciousness in children born without cortex;235
13.6;6. Implications for medical ethics;239
13.7;7. Conclusion;240
13.8;Acknowledgements;240
13.9;Notes;241
13.10;References;241
14;Chapter 10. Three Types of State Transition Underlying Perception;242
14.1;1. Introduction;242
14.2;2. Neural activity in the olfactory system;243
14.3;3. The role of preafference in attention;245
14.4;4. Associative (Hebbian) learning requires structural bifurcation;248
14.5;5. Modifiable synapses provide for generalization over categories of stimuli;250
14.6;6. The role of stochastic chaos in Hebbian learning;251
14.7;7. Interpretations of intentionality in neurodynamics;252
14.8;8. Conclusions;255
14.9;References;256
15;Chapter 11. Conscious Contents Provide Coherent, Global Information;260
15.1;1. Introduction;260
15.2;2. Capability constraints: arguments for associating consciousness with a global data base;269
15.3;3. The boundaries of conscious contents;278
15.4;4. Summary and conclusions;285
15.5;Acknowledgements;287
15.6;Notes;287
15.7;References;288
16;Chapter 12. Evolutionary and Developmental Aspects of Intersubjectivity;292
16.1;1. Intersubjectivity;292
16.2;2. Sensations, perceptions and imaginations;293
16.3;3. The inner world;295
16.4;4. Components of intersubjectivity;296
16.5;5. Representing emotions;298
16.6;6. Representing desires;300
16.7;7. Representing attention;301
16.8;8. Representing intentions;303
16.9;9. Representing beliefs and knowledge;305
16.10;10. Coevolution of intersubjectivity and cooperation;308
16.11;11. Conclusion;311
16.12;Acknowledgements;313
16.13;Notes;313
16.14;References;313
17;Chapter 13. The Phenomenon of Consciousness from a Popperian Perspective;318
17.1;1. Popper’s view on consciousness;318
17.2;3. The Popperian three-world idea;319
17.3;3. The three-world idea and the theory of knowledge;322
17.4;4. On the difference between psychotherapy and drug therapy;327
17.5;5. Popperian psychology;327
17.6;6. The tone of subjective states;329
17.7;7. The gap between neural events and conscious states;330
17.8;8. Somatic markers;331
17.9;9. Supervenience of linguistic hypotheses: Between dualism and physicalism;333
17.10;10. The key role of language and world 3;334
17.11;References;336
18;Index;338