On the brain-mind visual experiences (original) (raw)
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OBM Neurobiology, 2020
The present report discusses brain visual experiences in conditions of low degree of openness of the brain toward the environment, for example, while dreaming, during meditation, or in non-ordinary brain activity states such as under the effects of psychoactive substances, in the state of coma, or in other states of reduced sensory perception, among others. In the present report, for brevity, such states are referred to as brain-mind visual experiences, implying that such a visual activity is not one connected to the actual vision as in the state of wakefulness. In the dissipative many-body model, the criticality of the dynamics is enhanced in low openness brain states and is at the origin of movie-like sequences of images in visual experiences. These sequences and the abrupt shifts from one image pattern to another are depicted by chaotic trajectories through the memory space. Truthfulness and realism felt in the visual experiences are discussed in terms of the algebra of the doubling of the degrees of freedom in the dissipative model. In the present discussion, a few aspects of the visual experiences of a subject during an Amazonian Ayahuasca ceremony are considered. Keywords Brain-mind visual experiences; dissipative quantum model of brain; memory states; chaotic trajectories; quantum field theory; models of cortical dynamics in perception; cognitive behavior
Quantum, 2008
This paper is about consciousness. It takes explicitely into account the fact that consciousness, the unified mental pattern that brings together the object and the self, emerges in living matter. Consideration of the autopoietic properties of the brain as a living system leads to the possibility that consciousness emerges from the splitting of the brain"s computational and quantum representational skills. This latter process takes into account the creation of qualia. In a nonlocal quantum universe the separation between mind and matter is reexamined in the light of neuroplasticity. The argument is developed on the basis of three axioms whose validity is recognized to different degrees.
Consciousness, Brain and the Physical World
Dualist and Reductionist theories of mind disagree about whether or not consciousness can be reduced to a state of or function of the brain. They assume, however, that the contents of consciousness are separate from the external physical world as-perceived. According to the present paper this assumption has no foundation either in everyday experience or in science. Drawing on evidence for perceptual projection in both interoceptive and exteroceptive sense modalities, the case is made that the physical world as-perceived is a construct of perceptual processing and, therefore, part of the contents of consciousness. A finding which requires a Reflexive rather than a Dualist or Reductionist model of how consciousness relates to the brain and the physical world. The physical world as-perceived may, in turn be thought of as a biologically useful model of the world as described by physics. Redrawing the boundaries of consciousness to include the physical world as-perceived undermines the conventional separation of the 'mental' from the physical', and with it the very foundation of the Dualist-Reductionist debate. The alternative Reflexive model departs radically from current conventions, with consequences for many aspects of consciousness theory and research. Some of the consequences which bear on the internal consistency and intuitive plausibility of the model are explored, e.g. the causal sequence in perception, representationalism, a suggested resolution of the Realism versus Idealism debate, and the way manifest differences between physical events as-perceived and other conscious events (images, dreams, etc.) are to be construed.
A quantum approach to visual consciousness
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2001
Conventional neuroscience and cognitive science have been unable to provide a complete account of visual consciousness. Phenomenal or subjective aspects of visual consciousness constituting the 'experience of vision' are the most difficult to explain; indeed, understanding the subjective or experiential aspects of consciousness has been designated as the 'hard problem' 1. The Penrose-Hameroff ORCHESTRATED OBJECTIVE REDUCTION (ORCH OR) model of QUANTUM computation in MICROTUBULES within neurons can potentially account for subjectivity by connecting the quantum process to a modern form of PAN-PROTOPSYCHIST philosophy 2 (Box 1 and see Glossary). The Orch OR model might also explain other enigmatic features of consciousness including 'binding' or the unitary nature of conscious experience. Regarding binding, we agree with Searle 3 that consciousness is irreducible, and in fact believe that binding requires an actual physical state: QUANTUM COHERENCE. The Orch OR model is also compatible with known neurophysiology and can generate testable predictions 4. Orch OR and other quantum models have potential explanatory value for the perplexing features of consciousness, but face at least two apparent obstacles. First, technological quantum computation requires isolation and extreme cold to prevent thermal interactions (i.e. DECOHERENCE) that are known to destroy delicate quantum processes 5,6. Second, it is unclear how a quantum state or field isolated within individual neurons could extend across membranes and anatomical regions to approach brain-wide proportions in many neurons. We address the latter issue by postulating QUANTUM TUNNELING across GAP JUNCTIONS, which would allow intracellular quantum states to spread among neurons. We also outline the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology that could accommodate Orch OR and result in phenomenal visual consciousness. First, however, we address the issue of decoherence.
Matter, mind and consciousness: from information to meaning
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience
This is a perspective on some theoretical studies obtained in the framework of the dissipative quantum model of brain. The formation of long range neuronal correlations is described in terms of quantum field theory mechanisms operating in systems with a huge number of degrees of freedom. Memory states are constructed through the condensation in the lowest energy state of quanta associated to the long range correlations. Many properties derived from such a modeling are discussed, also in relation with classical/quantum modeling interplay. The brain flexibility in responding to incoming inputs producing novel correlation patterns is attributed to the chaotic character of trajectories or paths through the memory states. A relevant role in the model is played by the fact that the brain is permanently open to its environment. The brain/mind activity is thus described in the formalism of dissipative systems, also accounting for the formation of the meanings of the information carried by the perceptual experiences. A recent novel description of criticality in brain activity during dreaming, meditation and non-ordinary brain states is briefly mentioned. In the model, it is proposed that consciousness finds its origin in the permanent dialog or interaction of the brain with its environment. Although a long way has been done, much work is still necessary to understand the extraordinary functional properties of brain.
2020
It was Boethius who defined person as an individual substance with a rational nature, pointing out three important aspects of the nature of the human person, namely his individuality, his rationality and his being a substance. The rational nature of man is not just limited to the use of logic in his dealings, it is not merely reduced to the fact that man thinks or reasons before and even after undergoing an action. It also comprises the fact that man is conscious of all that he does, he is aware of his rationality. The human person is not the only substance in the animal kingdom with consciousness, for all animals have a certain level of consciousness, but the human person is the only animal whose consciousness comes with an awareness; that is to say that the human person is conscious of his awareness or is aware of his consciousness (to put in tautological terms, he is conscious of his consciousness and aware of his awareness). The issue of consciousness only gained momentum in the...