Non-Conscious Brain Processes Revealed by Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
November 30, 2011 P. Walla
The authors argue that understanding non-conscious information processing is essential for understanding consciousness itself. Drawing on a review by van Gaal et al. (2011), they contend that decision making and other sophisticated behaviors can occur automatically without conscious control. The chapter supports this notion with magnetoencephalography (MEG) neuroimaging data. The authors propose that the brain's function is to produce controlled behavior through three steps: processing sensory input, cognition and emotion leading to decisions, and translating output into motor action. They reference Freud's iceberg analogy, noting that non-conscious processing accounts for more than 80% of all information processing.