The birth of consciousness.
Early human development October 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2009.08.017 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractNewborn infants meet some criteria for consciousness, including awareness of body, self, and world. They can differentiate between self and nonself touch, express emotions, and show signs of shared feelings. They process sensory impressions, including pain, at a cortical level and remember rhythmic sounds and vowels from fetal life. The spontaneous resting activity in the newborn cortex may correspond to William James's 'stream of consciousness.' The authors argue that these findings suggest newborns possess a form of consciousness, though they do not claim full adult-like consciousness.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Argues that newborn infants exhibit several criteria of consciousness, including self-awareness, emotional expression, and cortical processing of sensory stimuli, and that their resting brain activity may correspond to a primitive stream of consciousness. |
Abstract
Newborn infants fulfil some criteria of being conscious i.e. being aware of the body, the self and the world. They are able to differentiate between self and nonself touch, express emotions and show signs of shared feelings. They process sensory impressions including pain at a cortical level. They remember rhythmic sounds and vowels which they have been exposed to during fetal life. The spontaneous resting activity discovered in the cortex of newborn infants may correspond to what William James called "the stream of consciousness".