Hemispheric reception model

The brain does not generate consciousness but instead translates raw sensory data into a narratively structured, culturally contextualized experience. The right hemisphere acts as a persistent, pre-narrative receiver that continues to register sensory information even when left-hemispheric narrative processing is suppressed by anesthesia, coma, near-death experiences, or psychedelics. This framework explains intraoperative awareness, implicit memory during unconsciousness, universal features of near-death experiences alongside cultural variation, sensory registration in comas, and the quality of psychedelic experiences when the Default Mode Network is suppressed. A three-layer model is proposed: sensory organs as autonomous receptors, the right hemisphere as a raw-data receiver, and the left hemisphere as a narrative translator.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes a theoretical framework that reconceptualizes the relationship between the brain and conscious experience. Rather than viewing the brain as the generator of consciousness, we advance the hypothesis that it functions primarily as a translator—converting raw sensory and experiential data into narratively structured, culturally contextualized conscious experience. Central to this model is the proposed role of the right cerebral hemisphere as a persistent, pre-narrative receiver that continues to register sensory information even when left-hemispheric narrative processing is suppressed by pharmacological agents (such as propofol), pathological states (coma), near-death experiences (NDEs), or psychoactive substances (psychedelics). This framework offers a parsimonious explanation for several otherwise puzzling phenomena: intraoperative awareness under general anesthesia, implicit memory formation during unconsciousness, the universal structural features of near-death experiences alongside their culturally variable content, persistent sensory registration during comatose states, and the characteristic quality of psychedelic experiences when the Default Mode Network is suppressed. We propose a three-layer model—(1) sensory organs as autonomous receptors, (2) the right hemisphere as a persistent raw-data receiver, and (3) the left hemisphere as a narrative translator—and outline testable predictions derived from this framework.