Consciousness
Videos
Consciousness is being aware of something internal to one's self, or of states or objects in one's external environment. It has been the topic of extensive explanations, analyses, and debate among phi
Mirror test subjected on a common octopus
Schema of the neural processes underlying consciousness, from Christof Koch
A Buddhist monk meditating
Thomas Nagel argues that while a human might be able to imagine what it is like to be a bat by taking "the bat's point of view", it would still be impossible "to know what it is like for a bat to be a bat". (Townsend's big-eared bat pictured.)
The neural correlates of consciousness are the minimal set of neuronal events and mechanisms observed to occur along with the mental states to which they are related. Neuroscientists use empirical app
The Necker Cube: The left line drawing can be perceived in one of two distinct depth configurations shown on the right. Without any other cue, the visual system flips back and forth between these two interpretations.
Midline structures in the brainstem and thalamus necessary to regulate the level of brain arousal. Small, bilateral lesions in many of these nuclei cause a global loss of consciousness.