Week 1 the neural basis of consciousness introduction nao tsuchiya
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This document provides an overview of the learning objectives and topics to be covered in Week 1 of a course on the neural basis of consciousness. The key questions to be answered are: a) Why are we interested in consciousness? b) What do we mean by consciousness? c) How can we study consciousness? d) What are the challenges of understanding consciousness in animals, plants and robots? The document discusses phenomenology, experimental approaches, theories of consciousness and challenges in the field. It also provides an introduction to relevant neuroanatomy and encourages students to learn basic terminology to prepare for future assessments.
Week 1 the neural basis of consciousness introduction nao tsuchiya
- 1. Week 1 Neural basis of consciousness: Introduction Prof Nao Tsuchiya Twitter: @conscious_tlab Email: naotsugu.tsuchiya@monash.edu Facebook: Naotsugu Tsuchiya
- 2. D. Learning objectives for Week 1 After Week 1 lecture, you will be able to answer the following questions. a. Why are we interested in consciousness? b. What do you mean by consciousness? c. How can we study consciousness? d. What are the potential problems when one wants to understand and test a possibility of consciousness in animals, plants and robots?
- 3. Why are we interested in consciousness? Why do we feel the way we do? Why do we lose it when we go to sleep? Am I experiencing the world the same way as the others do? Is my yellow the same yellow as the others’ yellow? What was it like when I was a baby? What will it be like when I am going to die? What is it like to be an animal, insect, plant or robot? Why
- 4. Why are we interested in consciousness? Consciousness is the only way you can know what the world is like! However, consciousness is subjective. Thus, since the time of Galileo (Philip Goff 2019 Galileo’s Error), science has avoided approaching the question of consciousness. -> led to a big success in science, technology, medicine, etc Why
- 5. Why are we interested in consciousness? This led to the negligence of consciousness on one side Physics (except for quantum mechanics) Can we explain consciousness by the known set of laws in physics? Does the law of conservation of energy apply consciousness? How can consciousness interact with the world? Is free will an illusion? Why
- 6. Why are we interested in consciousness? Medicine / Technology Should we focus only on the overt behaviors? Can we understand other people’s experience directly? Is the language / behavior only the target of medicine / technology? Why
- 7. Why consciousness? A brief history of consciousness research B.C.~ Philosophical discussions Descartes “Principles of Philosophy”. Influential idea “cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)” Wundt, Fechner, James: Birth of experimental psychology Neuroimaging: Explosion of empirical studies of consciousness Chalmers: Hard problem of consciousness Tononi: Integrated Information Theory of consciousness
- 8. What do we mean by “consciousness”? Level of consciousness Fully conscious : wakefulness, alertness Loss of consciousness : coma, vegetative states, deep general anesthesia, deep dreamless sleep Contents of consciousness (=~ awareness) Qualia, feelings, what it is like, conscious perception Includes: Self-consciousness, various modalities etc. What is consciousness?
- 9. What do we mean by “consciousness”? Laureys 2005 Trends Cogn Sci What is consciousness?
- 10. Emphasis throughout Psy3280 Phenomenology Experimental data Theory What is consciousness?
- 11. Phenomenology We don’t know our conscious phenomenology very well! Experience “motion induced blindness” (Bonneh 2001 Nature) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfrb94mKCJw Watch it with friends, family, or others. Make sure the video is not cheating. What is consciousness?
- 12. Phenomenology Think why yellow dots becomes invisible. Try to pay attention to one of the dots. Does the attended dot disappear more often? Why? Do you not see the illusion? Why? What is consciousness?
- 13. Various approaches to phenomenology 1. Various illusions (unusual inputs to understand better phenomenology) Link 1, 2, 3, 4 2. Individual differences: Developmental, genetical 3. Lesions 4. Different states (Inattention) How to study consciousness?
- 14. Experimental data To understand consciousness, we need multi-level approach: 1. Brains - humans & animals a. Neurons, population of neurons, areas b. Connectivity of neurons i. Problem of nonconscious neural activities What is consciousness?
- 15. Experimental data 2. Behaviors and cognition - humans & animals a. Verbal reports b. Simpler responses - button presses i. Problem of nonconscious processing c. Complex behaviors 1990s~ Neuroimaging in humans What is consciousness?
- 16. A brief history of consciousness research B.C.~ Philosophical discussions Descartes “Principles of Philosophy”. Influential idea “cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)” Wundt, Fechner, James: Birth of experimental psychology Neuroimaging: Explosion of empirical studies of consciousness Chalmers: Hard problem of consciousness Tononi: Integrated Information Theory of consciousness What is consciousness?
- 17. Owen et al 2006 Science What is consciousness?
- 18. Physical world Electro-chemical reaction Subjectivity Consciousness Trying to find the neural correlates of consciousness (the NCC) What is consciousness?
- 19. Trying to find the neural correlates of consciousness (the NCC) Easy problem: Explain (observable) behaviors from neural activities. Trying to find the correlational evidence between consciousness and neural activities. What is consciousness?
- 20. A brief history of consciousness research B.C.~ Philosophical discussions Descartes “Principles of Philosophy”. Influential idea “cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)” Wundt, Fechner, James: Birth of experimental psychology Neuroimaging: Explosion of empirical studies of consciousness Chalmers: Hard problem of consciousness Tononi: Integrated Information Theory of consciousness What is consciousness?
- 21. Physical world Electro-chemical reaction Subjectivity Consciousness The problem of consciousness is Hard! Problems of studying consciousness?
- 22. Problems of studying consciousness? Hard problem Explain why/how certain neural activities must give rise to consciousness. Mere conceivability of philosophical zombies makes it Hard to answer this.
- 23. Physical world Electro-chemical reaction Subjectivity Consciousness Do we need to solve the Hard problem? Integrated information theory Problems of studying consciousness?
- 24. Hard vs Easy problems Problems of studying consciousness? IIT tries to come up with the explanation on how our conscious phenomenology can be supported by physical mechanisms. More on later
- 25. A brief history of consciousness research B.C.~ Philosophical discussions Descartes “Principles of Philosophy”. Influential idea “cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)” Wundt, Fechner, James: Birth of experimental psychology Neuroimaging: Explosion of empirical studies of consciousness Chalmers: Hard problem of consciousness Tononi: Integrated Information Theory of consciousness Problems of studying consciousness?
- 26. Theory Since 1990s, lots of progress has been made in neuroscience of consciousness To understand the experimental data, we need a theory. There are many theories available now. Problems of studying consciousness?
- 27. Theory Theories To explain and understand the data To make counterintuitive predictions ---> Finally to infer things that are impossible to do otherwise In Psy3280, we will make a deep dive into several theories of consciousness. Problems of studying consciousness?
- 28. In practice Start from your own phenomenology. Discover what you don’t know. Confirm the boundary of the knowledge (Matt Might’s slide, Assessment 2, 3). How to study consciousness?
- 29. In practice Propose a new experiments (Assessment 4, 5) Based on theoretical prediction or introduction of new techniques from different fields Combine ideas, change conditions, doubt the assumptions, refine the experiments (Assessment 5, 6) Conduct the experiments! How to study consciousness?
- 30. Learning the boundary of the knowledge (Assessment 2 & 3) 1. Brain injured patients 2. Characterizing conscious phenomenologies 3. Attention and consciousness 4. Implicit and unconscious perception 5. Consciousness research in animals 6. Intracranial recordings in humans 7. Reorganization of brains and altered consciousness How to study consciousness?
- 31. Suggested entries in Glossary (in Koch’s book) Ready to have them near you when you do Quiz in Week 1! Basic / Philosophical Consciousness, Content of consciousness Qualia Nonconscious Awareness Coma / Vegetative state Easy / Hard Problem, Mind-body problem Anatomy Cerebral cortex/neocortex Contralateral Ipsilateral Neurons Action potential / Spike Synapse Dorsal / Ventral pathway How to study consciousness?
- 32. Let’s learn a bit of basics on the neural basis of consciousness: Necessary knowledge for Week 2 assessments How to study consciousness?
- 33. A little bit of anatomy How to study consciousness?
- 34. Important anatomical terminology http://homepage.smc.edu/russell_richard/Psych2/Graphics/human_brain_directions.htm Lateral/medial Anterior/posterior Dorsal/ventral Superior/Inferior Sagittal Coronal Horizontal How to study consciousness?
- 35. Neurons in the brain How to study consciousness?
- 36. A little bit of basic neuroscience How to study consciousness?