Consciousness itself is clearly quite a controversial
and subjective topic. It is thought to involve both the modern
neocortex found in all higher mammals (cats, dolphins, elephants,
etc) as well as certain profoundly developed sections of the
brain
stem only found in humans. These "overdeveloped" sections,
along with the extremely pronounced encephalization and connectivity
of the human forebrain,
may account for our superior communicative and innovative capabilities,
as well as our unique ability to harness and control emotions.
But can these traits be called consciousness?
Science has proven at least
the existence, if not the clear definition, of consciousness. We know
that people lose and regain it; that specific neuropathologies correspond
with specific deficits in consciousness; and that conscious activities
are impossible if key neural structures are lost. All of these ingredients
indicate the presence of a direct link between the mind, human awareness,
and the physical brain. Yet the subtleties of this link are still
largely unknown, and questions regarding it may stump neuroscientists,
psychologists, and philosophers for many years to come.
Recent brain studies investigating the electromagnetic theory of consciousness explores the possibility that the electromagnetic field generated by the brain is the actual carrier of conscious experience. The starting point for the theory is the fact that every time a neuron
fires it also generates a disturbance to the surrounding electromagnetic (EM) field. Information coded in neuron firing patterns accounts for how information located in millions of neurons scattered throughout the brain can be unified into a single conscious experience:the information is unified in the EM field. When neurons fire together their EM fields combine to generate stronger EM field disturbances; so synchronous neuron firing will tend to have a bigger impact on the brain's EM field (and thereby consciousness) than the firing of individual neurons. Different EM field theories disagree as to the roleof the proposed conscious EM field on brain function.
Even with advanced techniques and
technologies, we have yet to pinpoint the physical characteristics
of the brain that build the most characteristic features of
the human mind -- creativity, intelligence, and self-awareness.
The role played by genes, time, environment, and component parts
from individual protein
particles to neurons to the nervous system as a whole will continue
to be explored. But that is not to say that we have not already built
a large body of knowledge regarding the structure and function of
the human brain; provided in this section are short descriptions of
what we know today about the brain, nervous system, and some of its
most important component parts.
How Does The Brain Work?
Start With 100 Billion Brain Cells Called
Neurons.
The brain is, by far, the most complex and mysterious organ in the
human body. Composed of over 100 billion cells called neurons, this
amazing structure is the center from which all of our skills of higher
reasoning originate -- creativity, learning, imagination, planning,
and, perhaps most notable of all, our sense of identity.
Click here to learn more about how the brain works.
Parts Of The Brain:
From Brain Stem To Cerebellum and From Cortex
To Frontal Lobe.
On a larger scale, the brain is made up of four distinct lobes
on both the left and right hemispheres. The frontal, temporal, parietal,
and occipital lobes each have primary processing functions, such
as cognition, hearing, sensory input, and vision respectively, but
they also serve act to regulate one another. Click
here to learn more about the Parts of the Brain.
Seeing Brain Function With MRI & PET Scans
A Window Into Brain Activity.
The study of brain functions has been greatly augmented in recent
years by the development of high-tech imaging techniques that allow
scientists to observe the living brain in action. Click here to learn more about MRI
and PET Scans.
