Archive for the ‘Neural Correlates’ Category
The current accepted school of thought is that consciousness in an “epiphenomena.” What this means is that it is a product of the workings of the brain and “springs out” of the the brain’s interactions the same way that music “springs out” of the vibrations of strings.
Given this reduction of consciousness to purely physical terms, we can do away with concepts of the “soul” or the “spirit” and state that given the right hardware, consciousness will form automatically. It is true however, that if we were to try and build this hardware (and create the states of the hardware) using a blueprint that would end in a conscious entity, we would be frustrated by the complexity.
But Henry Markram – Director of the Blue Brain Project claims that we can have functioning Human Brain within 10 years! He says that his team has already had some success in trying to replicate the brains of rats, with the Neurons beginning to self organize themselves – in other words, developing a personality.
He says if he fails, it will be proof that consciousness is more than merely a “rising up” of the brain – that there is something more. Will he or won’t he succeed? Stay tuned…
The words “Internet Addiction” have been bandied about for quite some time now. However, it hasn’t yet found a place in the prestigious Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) which lays down extensive criteria for various mental disorders.
But a team in Korea has found that Internet addicts have different brain responses from those who do not, laying down the physical foundations for the formal classification of Internet Addication as a mental disorder. The research was still limited to a small test group however – something that the team intends to correct. There are also some who contest the implications of the findings.
The test was performed using the infamous “World of Warcraft” series which has garnered a lot of publicity over it’s addictive properties. Whether or not psychologists wish to place the addiction on par with other addictions such as coccaine, is another matter. The problem arises when beginning to discuss whether or not Internet disorders are merely manifestations of previously existing conditions which need to be identified. This is similar to food addiction.
Researchers say that if they can consistently uncover the reward pathways in the brain relating to Internet disorder, that would be the clinching argument since such pathways are the hallmark of other more tangible addictions.
Patricia Churchland recently gave a talk in the “Expand Your Mind: Getting a Grasp on Consciousness” conference organized by MIT. She made a very interesting point that I would like to share with my readers here. The basic question is – why don’t plants have a consciousness? We know they don’t simply because they don’t have a central nervous system like a brain that would organize stimulus and respond to it.
The crux of the issue that Ms. Churchland was making, was that all sensory perception and even consciousness itself is because we can “move from point A to point B”. Without that ability to move, there is simply no use in having a consciousness. That makes sense. If you approach to cut a plant down, the plant can’t defend itself using any thought process either deliberate or instinctive. Therefore, it would be meaningless for a plant to have pain as it would not confer any sort of survival advantage.
It’s interesting to note that sensations are only given to organisms that can move lending weight to this idea. It leads us a fairly depressing conclusion though. There is no conception of beauty or art for it’s own sake. Sensory perception and all the associated sentiment that goes with it, somewhere down the line came into existence because they helped us essentially perform better at one of the four “F” – Feeding, Fleeing, Fighting, and well, you know….Reproduction!
Somewhat depressing isn’t it?