Abstract: Journal of Integrative NeuroscienceVol. 06, No. 04, pp. 523-540 (2007) Short CommunicationsNo AccessNEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING QUALIAROGER ORPWOODROGER ORPWOODBath Institute of Medical Engineering, Wolfson Center, Royal United Hospital, Bath BA1 3NG, UK Search for more papers by this author https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219635207001696Cited by:7 PreviousNext AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsRecommend to Library ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail AbstractThis paper argues that mechanisms underlying consciousness and qualia are likely to arise from the information processing that takes place within the detailed micro-structure of the cerebral cortex. It looks at two key issues: how any information processing system can recognize its own activity; and secondly, how this behavior could lead to the subjective experience of qualia. In particular, it explores the pattern processing capabilities of attractor networks, and the way that they can attribute meaning to their input patterns and goes on to show how these capabilities can lead to self-recognition. The paper suggests that although feedforward processing of information can be effective without attractor behavior, when such behavior is initiated, it would lead to self-recognition in those networks involved. It also argues that attentional mechanisms are likely to play a key role in enabling attractor behavior to take place. The paper explores the ability of attractor networks to generate representations of the meaning they assign to input patterns. It goes on to show how the way that they interpret representations of their own activity could give rise to qualia. The paper includes an examination of some limited neurobiological evidence that supports the theory outlined.Keywords:Consciousnessqualiaself-recognitionmeaningattractor networksattention References I. Aleksander and B. Dunmall, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 267, 197 (2000), DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2000.0987. Medline, ISI, Google ScholarD. J. Chalmers, J. Consc. Stud. 2, 200 (1995). Google Scholar D. J. Chalmers , The Conscious Mind ( OUP , New York , 1996 ) . Google ScholarF. S. Chance, L. F. Abbott and A. D. Reyes, Neuron 35, 773 (2002), DOI: 10.1016/S0896-6273(02)00820-6. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarR. Cossart, D. Aronov and R. Yuste, Nature 423, 283 (2003), DOI: 10.1038/nature01614. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarR. J. Douglaset al., Science 269, 981 (1995), DOI: 10.1126/science.7638624. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarR. J. Douglas and K. A. Martin, Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 27, 419 (2004), DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144152. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google Scholar G. M. Edelman and G. Tononi , Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination ( Penguin , London , 2000 ) . Google ScholarJ. Erikssonet al., Cereb. Cor. 17, 760 (2007), DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhk029. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarD. Eyton and S. Marom, J. Neurosci. 26, 8465 (2006). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarP. Frieset al., Science 291, 1560 (2001), DOI: 10.1126/science.1055465. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarG. Gerbner, Audio-Visual Com. Rev. 4, 171 (1956). ISI, Google ScholarK. Grill-Spectoret al., Nat. Neurosci. 3, 837 (2000), DOI: 10.1038/77754. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarS. Grossberg, Spat. Vis. 12, 163 (1999), DOI: 10.1163/156856899X00102. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google Scholar H. Haken , Information and Self-Organization: A Macroscopic Approach to Complex Systems ( Springer , Berlin , 2006 ) . Google Scholar D. Hofstadter , I am a Strange Loop ( Basic books , New York , 2007 ) . Google ScholarY. Ikegayaet al., Science 304, 559 (2004), DOI: 10.1126/science.1093173. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarH. A. Johnson and D. V. Buonomano, J. Neurosci. 27, 5915 (2007), DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0447-07.2007. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarN. Kalisman, G. Siberberg and H. Markram, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 880 (2005), DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0407088102. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarN. Kanwisher and E. Wojciulik, Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 1, 91 (2000), DOI: 10.1038/35039043. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarJ. N. D. Kerr, D. Greenberg and F. Helmchen, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 14063 (2005), DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0506029102. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarA. Kleinschmidtet al., Proc. R Soc. Lond. Ser. B Biol. Sci. 265, 2427 (1998), DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0594. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google Scholar C. Koch , The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach ( Roberts , Englewood , 2004 ) . Google ScholarA. Luczaket al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 347 (2007), DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0605643104. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarE. D. Lumer, K. J. Friston and G. Rees, Science 280, 1930 (1998), DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5371.1930. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google Scholar A. Mack and I. Rock , Inattentional Blindness ( MIT Press , Cambridge , 1998 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar D. McQuail and S. Windahl , Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communication ( Longman , London , 1993 ) . Google ScholarJ. Moran and R. Desimone, Science 229, 782 (1985), DOI: 10.1126/science.4023713. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarK. Moutoussis and S. Zeki, Proc. R Soc. London Ser. B 264, 393 (1997). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarR. Orpwood, J. Theor. Biol. 169, 403 (1994), DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.1994.1162. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarS. Panzeriet al., Network: Computation in Neural Systems 12, 423 (2001), DOI: 10.1088/0954-898X/12/4/302. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarR. R. Poznanski, J. Integrative. Neurosci. 1, 145 (2002), DOI: 10.1142/S0219635202000086. Link, ISI, Google ScholarR. D. S. Raizada and S. Grossberg, Cerebral Cortex 13, 100 (2003), DOI: 10.1093/cercor/13.1.100. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google Scholar D. Rose , Consciousness: Philosophical, Psychological and Neural Theories ( OUP , Oxford , 2006 ) . Google ScholarM. V. Sanchez-Vives and D. A. McCormick, Nat. Neurosci. 3, 1027 (2000). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarC. E. Shannon, Bell Syst. Tech. J. 27, 379 (1948). Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarD. L. Sheinberg and N. K. Logothetis, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 3408 (1997), DOI: 10.1073/pnas.94.7.3408. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarY. Shu, A. Hasenstaub and D. A. McCormick, Nature 423, 288 (2003), DOI: 10.1038/nature01616. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarG. Silberberg, A. Gupta and H. Markram, Trends Neurosci. 25, 227 (2002), DOI: 10.1016/S0166-2236(02)02151-3. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarP. N. Steinmetzet al., Nature 404, 187 (2000). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarK. Tayloret al., Cerebral Cortex 15, 1424 (2005), DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhi023. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarA. M. Thompsonet al., Phil. Trans. R Soc. Lond. B 357, 1781 (2002). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarA. M. Thompson and A. P. Bannister, Cere. Cor. 13, 5 (2003). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarS. Treue and J. H. Maunsell, Nature 382, 539 (1996), DOI: 10.1038/382539a0. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarR. Yusteet al., Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 6, 477 (2005), DOI: 10.1038/nrn1686. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarS. Zeki, Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 24, 57 (2001), DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.57. Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google ScholarS. Zeki and A. Bartels, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 265, 1583 (1998). Crossref, Medline, ISI, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited By 7The QBIT Theory of ConsciousnessMajid Beshkar14 April 2020 | Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, Vol. 54, No. 4Neural Correlates of Normal and Impaired ConsciousnessAndrea E. Cavanna2 December 2017Distinguishing Representations as Origin and Representations as Input: Roles for Individual NeuronsJonathan C. W. Edwards30 September 2016 | Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 7ConsciousnessAndrea E. Cavanna1 Jan 2016The science of consciousness – Basics, models, and visionsThilo Hinterberger1 Dec 2015 | Journal of Physiology-Paris, Vol. 109, No. 4-6Genomic instantiation of consciousness in neurons through a biophoton field theoryLleuvelyn A. Cacha and Roman R. Poznanski10 July 2014 | Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, Vol. 13, No. 02PERCEPTUAL QUALIA AND LOCAL NETWORK BEHAVIOR IN THE CEREBRAL CORTEXROGER D. ORPWOOD21 November 2011 | Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, Vol. 09, No. 02 Recommended Vol. 06, No. 04 Metrics History Received 4 October 2007 Accepted 4 November 2007 KeywordsConsciousnessqualiaself-recognitionmeaningattractor networksattentionPDF download
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 18
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot