It is assumed that a useful theory of consciousness (ToC) will explain why consciousness is associated with brains. However, the findings of evolutionary biology, developmental bioelectricity and synthetic bioengineering reveal ancient pre-neural roots of many mechanisms and algorithms occurring in brains: minds may have preceded brains. Most work in the emerging field of diverse intelligence...
The target article by Van Gyseghem et al. (2026) surveys discussions of consciousness in papers involving human brain organoids (HBOs). They rightly point out that there are many divergent concepts...
Discussions of free will often center on the question of whether actions are determined, with a special focus on causes, effects, and when subjects experience the desire to act relative to neural events. However, because the only evidence for the existence of free will is the subjective experience itself, explanation must center on the phenomenal: why do we feel free? Here, we propose a...
Identifying a complete, accurate model of brain function would allow neuroscientists and clinicians to make powerful neuropsychological predictions and diagnoses as well as develop more effective treatments to mitigate or reverse neuropathology. The productive model of brain function, which has been dominant in the field for centuries, cannot easily accommodate some higher-order neural...
Within a cell system structure dictates function. Any interaction between cells, or a cell and its environment, has the potential to have long term implications on the function of a given cell and emerging cell aggregates. The structure and function of cells are continuously subjected to modification by electrical and chemical stimuli. However, biological systems are also subjected to an...
The physical properties of water, particularly the nature of interfacial water and pH shifts associated with dynamics of the hydronium ion near any surface, may be a primary source of the complex electromagnetic patterns frequently correlated with consciousness. Effectively all of the major correlates of consciousness, including the 40 Hz and 8 Hz coupling between the cerebral cortices and...