The Brain and Consciousness - Essay Example

The Brain and Consciousness Brain stem The brain stem connects the nerves flowing up from the brain stem in the back bone to the functioning centersof the brain. While the brain stem is broken down into many different sub-areas, the main function seems to be to connect the thought centers of the brain with the pathways / organs / muscles which are affected by those thoughts. While this analogy is limited, if the brain is a computer, the brain stem could be through of as the CPU. All the sensory input coming from the body, and the thoughts being sent out, responsively and proactively, are processed thought the different regions of the brain stem.

Many of the experiments discussed on class regarding blind-sight, and the responsiveness of the body to stimuli which affect the body through a visual blind spot could well be explained by the autonomic functions of the brain stem. (Corey, et al. 1995) This portion of the brain is responsible for many autonomic function of the body, such as respiration, heart beating, etc. Advanced training, what is often referred to as subconscious responses to external stimuli, could well be the part of neural learning which happens in the brain stem.

The received stimulus does not have to transmit as far as the brain cerebral hemisphere for the body to 'know' how to respond. Thus, learned behaviors become more of a subconscious, autonomic function because of brain stem responses.Visual Cortex The visual cortex composes approximately 1/3 of the brain surface area, and if primarily responsible for receiving and processing visual input. The visual cortex is highly pattern recognitive, therefore it processed patterns in order to break down the input signals and make connections for the mind to understand.

Visual understanding is an important part of thought and understanding. The proof of which is the importance and presence of dreams. Regardless of the dream theory one ascribes to, each theorist and their theories lead in the same direction. Dreams seek to put indistinguishable feeling, emotions, or subconscious impressions into visual imaged in order for the person to process those intangible inputs. Brain Hemispheres Some of the most interest research has been on the difference between the brain hemispheres, and what happens when the connecting organ, the corpus callosum is removed.

This area of the brain seems to connect the two lobes, and allows the hemispheres to communicate and synthesis information into contiguous thought. The right and left brain hemispheres, responsible for logical and visual information, and creative, non-visual information respectively, need to be able to work together in order to create cognitive thought processes. In musicians, this element is significantly larger than in non-musicians. This fact leads us to understand that performing on a musical instrument, which is both a creative and disciplined logical activity, requires more cross-brain communication than other behaviors which could be called more singularly creative or logically disciplined.

However, with all of our knowledge of the brain, and how it physically, chemically and electrically functions, we still cannot identify with any surety the source of conscious awareness of self. (Dennet, 1991) Identification of that which sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is not found in unique regions of the brain, chemicals, neural networks, intelligence, or the ability to form social networks with our peers. Researchers have found all these elements on other species to differing degrees (Searle, 1997; Dennet, 1998) Perhaps this element of human behavior will remain out of reach until we accept that we were created differently than the rest, in the image and likeness of our Creator.

Cited WorksCowey, A., & Stoerig, P. (1995). Blindsight in monkeys. Nature, 373, 247-249.Dennett, D. (1991) Consciousness Explained. Little Brown and Co. Dennett, D, (1998). The myth of double transduction. In S.R. Hameroff, A.W. Kaszniak, and A.C. Scott (eds) Towards a Science of Consciousness: The Second Tucson Discussions and Debates. MIT PressPovinelli, D.J. (1998) Can animals empathize Maybe not. Scientific American, 9, 67-75 Retrieved from: www.zoosemiotics.helsinki.fi/ Can Animals Empathize - MAYBE NOT.

docSearle, J. (1997). The Mystery of Consciousness. New York review of Books