Abstract For a phenomenon to gain wide acceptance, three different criteria must be First, the phenomenon must be real, in the sense of being reliably repeatable. Second, there should be at least some potential candidate explanations, and third, the phenomenon must have broad implications beyond the narrow of one specialty. Without all three in place, a phenomenon will be regarded as an anomaly...
Words such as 'consciousness' and 'self' actually encompass a number of distinct phenomena that are loosely lumped together. The study of neurological syndromes allows us to explore the neural mechanisms that might underlie different aspects of self, such as body image and emotional responses to sensory stimuli, and perhaps even laughter and humour. Mapping the 'functional logic' of the many...