A breakthrough seven -year experiment provided fresh insight into what creates consciousness. Study with the participation of human participants and published In nature, he examined the basic question of how our minds become aware.
Integrated information theory (IIT) suggests that consciousness arises when information in the system, like our brain, is highly related and function as a united whole. Think about how about a perfectly synchronized orchestra – all the instruments playing together create one, conscious experience.
On the other hand, the global theory of working space (GNWT) suggests that specific areas of the brain act like a reflector, emphasizing essential information and giving it by the brain, making us aware. Imagine that the information newsletter is broadly broadcast so that everyone knows it.
Scientists tested these two theories. Their discoveries indicate a sturdy relationship between visual brain processing areas (at the back) and frontal areas (involved in thinking). This suggests that our conscious experience can be more rooted in how we perceive the world through our senses than only in thinking at a higher level.
As Christof Koch, from the Allen Institute, It was found“The opposite cooperation fits the mission of the Allen Institute of Team Science, Open Science and Big Science
Studies suggest that although the front of the brain is crucial for reasoning and planning (“intelligence concerns”), awareness (“consciousness is”) can be strongly rely on how our brains process the sensory contribution.
The study also revealed that the back of the brain seems necessary to store detailed details of what we see, such as the orientation of the object.
While the front of the brain is involved in the recognition of the general category of the object, it may not be the main magazine for all minor visual details. This questions the view that the front region of the brain contains all the details of our visual experience.
These discoveries have significant implications for understanding consciousness and can offer new prospects for disorders such as coma and vegetative conditions.
Identifying the brain areas related to consciousness can help doctors detect “hidden consciousness” – hidden awareness – in patients with non -stalking with serious brain injuries, a state reported in about 25% of such cases.
Although Iit suggests that consciousness arises from various parts of the brain cooperating in order to integrate information as a team, the study did not find sufficient consistent connections on the back of the brain to fully support it. Similarly, while GNWT assumes that consciousness comes from the front of the brain, the discoveries also did not provide sufficiently strong evidence for this idea.
Dr. Anil Seth from the University of Sussex noticed: “It was clear that no individual experiment would definitely overthrow any theory. Theories are simply too different in terms of assumptions and explanatory goals, and the available experimental methods too broad to allow one theory to finally win over another. On visual experience.”
The study was attended by unprecedented 256 participants, who showed various visual stimuli, while their brain activity was measured using blood flow techniques, magnetic and electrical activity.
Koch emphasized the strength of this approach: “The opposite cooperation is a powerful social process, not much used because of their complex nature, trying to coordinate research and related protocols in many independent laboratories and competitive units. The biological field can be extremely benefit from more” friendly “competition among the theories -urory or other theories. But this requires a enormous company and continuous work to keep all Align.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
