Neuroscientists close in on the brain signature for consciousness
Rich Haridy
6 hours ago
Despite an extraordinary array of scientific discoveries advancing our understanding of the human body, we still know remarkably little about the brain in general, and the nature of consciousness in particular. Setting aside centuries of philosophizing over what actually defines a conscious mind, neuroscientists are only now grappling with how our brains generate conscious awareness.
The goal of this new research was to try to identify a variety of neural signatures that can effectively indicate the presence of consciousness. This could, for example, allow doctors to differentiate conscious and unconscious patients suffering from brain injuries in cases where individuals are unable to communicate.
The research involved over 150 subjects, who were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Some subjects scanned were patients in diagnosed vegetative states, while others were healthy individuals. The researchers ultimately discovered four specific neural activity patterns that could distinguish a person's place on a spectrum from conscious to unconscious.
The most complex pattern identified dynamic communication across 42 different brain regions. This highly active pattern of long-distance, brain-wide coordination was primarily seen in healthy, awake and aware subjects. At the other end of the spectrum, the fourth, and least complex pattern reflected fewer long-distance connections in the brain. This pattern was often seen in completely vegetative patients.
More:
https://newatlas.com/brain-scan-neural-pattern-consciousness/58385/
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Hats off to you, Judi, for finding all of these enlightening articles and posting them.
