A poll on Consciousness

[wine]

Everyone Vote!

[Buffy]

You say "functions" as opposed to simply "storage" which with my CS/Robotics hat on says its distributed. That's misleading though, because the lion's share's in the brain...your definition forces my vote for more than just the brain though...

I am also conscious that this is a pole and not a Pole.

Carefully parsed,
Buffy

[Tormod]

I think the brain, but I have no clue, really.

[LJP07]

This should have been selected multiple choice poll because I would have chosen option two and three. However, I chose three to inform everyone about the misconception that memories are stored only either in the CNS or Brain. I'll try to explain this as simply as possible.

The Heart encompasses Memory, of course the brain too but there are memories stored in the heart. Outside the right ventricle, there are a bunch or neurones that are exactly the same as the brain and obviously are connected. Due to this, it was discovered that the heart has stored conscious memories and events in that persons life. But how do they know?

Herat Surgery gave the answer to all their questions. Here is one example. A man who had to have a heart transplant had no interest in writing or no other academic writing achievements unlike his donor. When the heart was transplanted successfully, the man experienced memories from that person and starngely started to write and write and write, he claimed that all he wanted to do was write.

This and many many other examples are known, so the heart is much more than just a pump, it's stores memories which, mkae it all the more important.

[Annoying Twit]

I'm not allowed to vote because I'm too new.

I would agree that without a clearer definition of what we're talking about, I'd go with the distributed argument. If I scratch my leg, then I am conscious of a sensation in my leg. This is caused by the physical scratching of the leg disturbing nerves, leading to a transmission of information to my brain, and further activity there. The whole procedure is experienced by myself as a conscious experience of being scratched. It could be argued that it's not possible to split up this nervous activity where nerves enter the brain and say that the activity that occurred outside the brain wasn't part of consciousness, but the activity that occurs inside the brain is. And if I had to vote, that would be the reasoning for my answer. While I can't remember the book, I'm sure that I read a psychology book once that talked about a nerve connected to a monkey's eye that acted as a "monkey paw detector". When a monkey's paw passed in front of the eye the nerve would fire. If I remember correctly, when I've discussed this before (not here) it was claimed that this was wrong, and there was no such research. But as a general comment, it might be interesting to look at how much processing is done outside of the brain.

A counter-argument to this would be the experience of amputees who experience "phantom pains" in their missing limbs. This could be interpreted as meaning that all of the biological structures involved in conscious experience of the limb are still present, and hence they weren't in the limb itself. If not in the limb, then being in the brain would be a reasonable hypothesis.

[ronthepon]

Originally Posted by Prolu2007

This and many many other examples are known, so the heart is much more than just a pump, it's stores memories which, mkae it all the more important.

That's new and good info, (new to me, that is) but I gotta ask if you've got some link's that could back up the info, Prolu2007.

[eric l]

As this thread started as "a pole on consciousness" I first thought that it was about that new archbisshop in Poland, and wondered how it got classified under "Biology".

[infamous]

I've always been inclined to believe that consciousness was a product of the total nervous system. That would not be limited to just the brain but in my opinion would include every functioning cell in our bodies. Why do I come to this conclusion you may ask? Simply put, every cell is in one way or another interconnected with the nervous system. Brain, spinal cord, nerve endings, and cell function are just the individual parts of the sum total of our cellular consciousness..........Infy

[wine]

Amazing posts, thank you very much.
It was..very hard to try to word my question properly, and I knew I couldn't be totally accurate,
but,
you guys get the idea.

[InfiniteNow]

Consciousness might be described as the first person experience of the aggregate of everything internal combined with the aggregate of that which is external. In terms of the brain, most have a sense of awareness accompanied by vision, however, I would not posit the "seat" of consciousness being the occipital for the reasons above.

It's everything. It's now. It's emphemeral.