August 13, 2005

One or Many Consciousnesses?

Turns out there may be many areas in the brain that handle consciousness, rather than just one. The July 23 2005 issue of New Scientist, which reports on a study conducted by Anna Berti at the University of Turin in Italy. Berti and colleagues studied patients paralyzed on the left side and found that damage to the brain was in "premotor areas – regions that are known to plan and execute movement." New Scientist continues that "... consciousness about what a body part is doing seems to be housed in the same areas of the brain that prepare it to move"; Berti concludes that consciousness may arise from many discrete areas of the brain. My old friend VS Ramachandran agrees that there may be more than one part of the brain that deals with consiousness.

Definitely a hard problem!

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