Consciousness arises from a foundational, primitive form called anoetic consciousness—a basic, first-person flow of affective, homeostatic, and sensory-perceptual experiences. This rudimentary state underlies all learning and memory, giving rise to noetic (knowledge-based) consciousness and, eventually, autonoetic consciousness, which enables mental time travel—reflecting on past experiences and imagining future possibilities. The authors propose a multi-tiered neuroevolutionary framework linking genetically controlled primary processes (affective), secondary processes (learning and memory), and higher tertiary processes (developmentally emergent), explaining how affective experiences become cognitive and object-oriented, leading to episodic memory and self-aware awareness.
Understanding the neural basis of emotional feelings in animals, rather than just their behavior, may accelerate development of new psychiatric treatments. By studying rewarding and punishing effects of deep brain stimulation in subcortical emotional networks—including systems labeled SEEKING, RAGE, FEAR, LUST, CARE, PANIC, and PLAY—researchers have identified distinct emotion action patterns. This preclinical affective neuroscience approach has led to three potential antidepressant strategies: deep brain stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle in humans, reducing psychological pain from excessive PANIC arousal, and enhancing social joy through studies of social play in rats. The argument is that taking animal emotional feelings seriously as treatment targets could improve psychiatric intervention development.