Imaging the Networks of Consciousness
Oxford Handbooks Online July 1, 2014 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199764228.013.001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Critical review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Argues that functional neuroimaging has partially visualized consciousness-specific networks and that resting-state imaging holds diagnostic and prognostic potential for patients with compromised consciousness, though the authors contend that the feasibility of visualizing concept and intention circuits remains uncertain. |
Abstract
This chapter addresses and reconciles often conflicting conclusions published in the professional functional neuroimaging literature regarding the neuronal networks that may mediate consciousness viewed as a function, as well as neuronal circuits that represent specific products of that function, such as concepts, percepts, and experiences that are also referred to as the “contents” or the constituents of the stream of consciousness. The relevant literature is critically reviewed in order to answer the following questions: First, whether and to what degree consciousness-specific networks have been visualized and what are the prospects of their further specification in the future; second, whether imaging of resting neuronal networks can be used for diagnostic and prognostic purposes in cases of compromised consciousness among comatose patients or patients in the vegetative state; and third, whether visualization of the neuronal circuits that represent knowledge in the form of concepts and intentions is feasible.