S07 AND S08 Consciousness

dualism/cartesian dualism

body and mind are elements of different qualities / two different substances where the brain is non-physical and non-extended, opposite to the body

interaction problem

the philosophical difficulty of explaining how an immaterial, non-physical mind can causally affect a material, physical body, and vice versa

idealists

mind is fundamental - but how is the physical world consistent

neutral monists

mental and physical are two different ways to represent stuff which itself is neither physical nor mental

materialists

everything is physical

the hard problem

david chalmers: how does physical process in the brain create a subjective experience

mind-body problem

how are our minds related to our body and the rest of the material world

easy problem

Ways to explain consciousness by studying perception, learning, memory and attention…

qualia

= experience, the private aspects of our mental lives

some philosophers claim that qualia does not exist at all, but is an illusion

consciousness

awareness, the experience of perceiving a sensation of some sort

philosophical zombie

they behave like humans but do not have a conscious experience, how can we know the people in front of us aren’t philosophical zombies bc we don’t have access to their quale

panpsychism

all particles in the universe have some form of consciousness and are sentient

IIT Integrate Information Theory

all systems that integrate information have some level of consciousness which is calculated using the phi score

consciousness exists in various levels throughout the universe

unconscious

The part of our mental life that influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions that we cannot directly observe and of which we are unaware.

self-awareness

capacity to become the objects of one’s own attention, achieved by introspection

self : I vs me

William James: “I” (the self that experiences) and “me” (the self that extends outwards in space and time and can be perceived as an object, i.e., a body, abstract object with beliefs and attitudes).

dynamic self-concept

Markus and Wurf: an individual's view of themselves is not a fixed, single personality trait, but an active, shifting, and multifaceted structure that adapts to social contexts and life experiences

default mode network

An interconnected system of brain regions that are active when the mind is alert and aware but not focused on any particular task, such as during mind wandering

a self-centered predictive model of the world → risk of anxiety and suffering

global workspace hypothesis

Bernard Baars: the brain is functionally organized around a “working memory” with a limited capacity

items are conscious only when being processed within the workspace and broadcast to the rest of the unconscious system → making it available to influence behavior, speech and memory

EEG

Record the waves in electrical activity that sweep across the surface of the brain, used to diagnose brain states like sleep/wakefulness and can predict seizures

alpha brain waves

relaxed wakefulness with closed eyes: regular, rhytmic, strongest over posterior scalp

beta brain waves

alert, engaged wakefulness: fast, irrregular and low-amplitude activity

delta brain waves

slow wave sleep (N3): large amplitude, highly synchronized

theta brain waves

light NREM (N1): drowsiness, hypnagogic imagery

REM, slow-wave sleep

last about 10-20 min, resembles wakefulness, periods lenghten across the night, muscle atonia, vivid dreaming

sleep stages

N1 (Light sleep), N2 (half of sleep time), N3 (slow-wave sleep, greater in children), REM

N1-N3 = NREM

functions of slow-wave sleep

memory consolidation

RBD

REM behaviour disorder: A sleep disorder that involves acting out one’s dreams because the paralysis that normally occurs during REM sleep is absent or incomplete.

Functions of rem sleep

Could include consolidation, active forgetting, emotional processing, and insight.

Possibly several at once.

hypnogram

used in sleep studies (comb. of EEG and EMG) : scale

sleep spindles, K-Complex

ubiquitous NREM sleep EEG features that work together to protect sleep and consolidate memories

stage 2 N2

circadian rhythm

A regular, 24-hour pattern of bodily arousal that is set by light h

hypnosis

A relaxed state of mind in which a person is especially receptive to suggestions made by a hypnotist and feels their actions and thoughts are happening to them rather than being produced voluntarily.

hypnotic analgesia

A reduction in pain perception caused by a hypnotic suggestion.

dissociation

In the case of hypnosis, one stream of awareness stays connected to the hypnotist’s suggestions whereas another stream observes the person’s experiences in a disconnected way.s

inattentional blindness

A failure to perceive information that is outside the focus of one’s attention.

change blindness

A form of inattentional blindness, in which a person fails to notice changes in a visual stimulus.