Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
August 2003
Moira L Steyn-Ross, D A Steyn-Ross, J W Sleigh et al.
In a recent series of papers, the authors have developed a stochastic theory to describe the electrical response of a spatially homogeneous cerebral cortex to infusion of a general anesthetic agent. We showed that by modeling the GABAergic (propofol-like) drug effect as a prolongation of the inhibitory postsynaptic impulse response, we obtain a prediction that there will be a hysteretically...
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
August 2003
Steven Lehar
A serious crisis is identified in theories of neurocomputation, marked by a persistent disparity between the phenomenological or experiential account of visual perception and the neurophysiological level of description of the visual system. In particular, conventional concepts of neural processing offer no explanation for the holistic global aspects of perception identified by Gestalt theory....
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
August 1, 2003
Keith Gunderson
Aspects of an example of simulated shared subjectivity can be used both to support Steven Lehar's remarks on embodied percipients and to triangulate in a novel way the so-called “hard problem” of consciousness which Lehar wishes to “sidestep,” but which, given his other contentions regarding emergent holism, raises questions about whether he has been able or willing to do so.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
August 1, 2003
Antti Revonsuo
The Gestalt Bubble model of visual consciousness is a courageous attempt to take the first-person perspective as primary in the study of consciousness. I have developed similar ideas as the Virtual Reality Metaphor of consciousness (Revonsuo 1995; 2000). I can, hence, only agree with Lehar about the general shape of a proper research strategy for the study of consciousness. As to the...
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
August 1, 2003
Sophie Schwartz
New phenomenological data demonstrate that integrated life episodes are incorporated in no more than 1-2% of dream reports. This appears to be at odds with the replay of temporally sequenced memory at the level of neuronal ensembles observed in some animals during sleep. This result will constrain emerging ideas on memory reactivation during sleep and the role of sleep in memory consolidation.
International Journal of Neuroscience
July 2003
Petr Bob
History of the study of dissociation begins in the second half of the nineteenth century. It begins in the works of Hughlings Jackson and Pierre Janet, and markedly influences development of psychoanalysis and other psychological trends. According to the modern definition, dissociation represents a disturbance or alteration in the normally integrative functions of identity, memory, or...
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
June 2003
J David Smith, Wendy E Shields, David A Washburn
Researchers have begun to explore animals' capacities for uncertainty monitoring and metacognition. This exploration could extend the study of animal self-awareness and establish the relationship of self-awareness to other-awareness. It could sharpen descriptions of metacognition in the human literature and suggest the earliest roots of metacognition in human development. We summarize research...
Consciousness and Cognition
May 19, 2003
Arne Dietrich
486 citations
It is the central hypothesis of this paper that the mental states commonly referred to as altered states of consciousness are principally due to transient prefrontal cortex deregulation. Supportive evidence from psychological and neuroscientific studies of dreaming, endurance running, meditation, daydreaming, hypnosis, and various drug-induced states is presented and integrated. It is proposed...
Voluntary Action
May 1, 2003
Sabine Maasen
Abstract ‘The past decade has seen a rising tide of interest in consciousness accompanied by a surge of publications, new journals and scientific meetings’ (Zeman, 2001, p. 1264). Today, this is perhaps the best way to open the floor to any review of the field of consciousness. The sheer amount of activities in consciousness research is stunning, indeed, particularly in view of the fact that...
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
May 1, 2003
How are qualia coupled to functions?