Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment.
Rapid advances in neuroscience have provided remarkable breakthroughs in understanding the brain on many fronts. Although promising, the role of these advancements in solving the problem of consciousness is still unclear. Based on technologies conceivably within the grasp of modern neuroscience, we...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-06-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001651 |
| _version_ | 1818191539963166720 |
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| author | Albert Gidon Jaan Aru Matthew Evan Larkum |
| author_facet | Albert Gidon Jaan Aru Matthew Evan Larkum |
| author_sort | Albert Gidon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rapid advances in neuroscience have provided remarkable breakthroughs in understanding the brain on many fronts. Although promising, the role of these advancements in solving the problem of consciousness is still unclear. Based on technologies conceivably within the grasp of modern neuroscience, we discuss a thought experiment in which neural activity, in the form of action potentials, is initially recorded from all the neurons in a participant's brain during a conscious experience and then played back into the same neurons. We consider whether this artificial replay can reconstitute a conscious experience. The possible outcomes of this experiment unravel hidden costs and pitfalls in understanding consciousness from the neurosciences' perspective and challenge the conventional wisdom that causally links action potentials and consciousness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T00:16:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9f1c99f995b4c7dbeaf2027de65927a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T00:16:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9f1c99f995b4c7dbeaf2027de65927a2022-12-22T00:44:51ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852022-06-01206e300165110.1371/journal.pbio.3001651Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment.Albert GidonJaan AruMatthew Evan LarkumRapid advances in neuroscience have provided remarkable breakthroughs in understanding the brain on many fronts. Although promising, the role of these advancements in solving the problem of consciousness is still unclear. Based on technologies conceivably within the grasp of modern neuroscience, we discuss a thought experiment in which neural activity, in the form of action potentials, is initially recorded from all the neurons in a participant's brain during a conscious experience and then played back into the same neurons. We consider whether this artificial replay can reconstitute a conscious experience. The possible outcomes of this experiment unravel hidden costs and pitfalls in understanding consciousness from the neurosciences' perspective and challenge the conventional wisdom that causally links action potentials and consciousness.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001651 |
| spellingShingle | Albert Gidon Jaan Aru Matthew Evan Larkum Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. PLoS Biology |
| title | Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. |
| title_full | Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. |
| title_fullStr | Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. |
| title_short | Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. |
| title_sort | does brain activity cause consciousness a thought experiment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001651 |
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