Consciousness and Cognition

Chris Lamonde

Mr. Chessman

Nov. 30, 2005

Hnrs. Bio II

Introduction

Try to think of nothing – it’s hard Your mind will start to wonder with feelings,

ideas, or anything important to you Is a difference between your personal

experiences and experiences These operations happen at the prefrontal

lobes of the brain (Lights Up)

Conditions of Consciousness

1st is being awake/alert– The AFR ( ascending reticular formation) is

a network of neurological circuits located in the core of the brainstem and extending upward from the medulla to the cortex

– Those neurons transfer and manufacture neurotransmitters

– Main purpose of this area is to keep you awake and alert

2nd is being able to adapt to our surroundings

– This is responding in countless situations that are unfamiliar

– Need to make choices/decisions

What parts of the brain do for our consciousness

AFR enables you to wake up Hippocampus enables you to

remember Frontal lobes give you

perspective and separation between internal and external events

Anterior Cingulate enables you to focus and concentrate

Injury that effects consciousness

Brain injury can effect consciousness in 2 ways

– Mild – decease in alertness and wakefulness

– Severe – deep and irreversible coma People may become unaware and

deny their injury People may develop amnesia Therefore the brain, mind, and

consciousness are closely connected

Relating Infants and Animals

Tests done to babies that put a rouge on their faces and then were put in front of a mirror

– Children less than a year did move

– Children 15-18 months would move their hand toward the spot

– Children 2-3 years old would touch

Monkeys would acknowledge themselves in the mirrors

Chimps moved toward the rogue like the 15-18 month olds

Animals with each other

Baboons recognize cries of other baboons They also understand their family relationships and

place in the community One chimp knew where food was and another that

did not know followed him around The chimp that knew where food was misled the

other to places where the food wasn’t Another called it’s mother to chase away another

female so he could steal the food

More about the brain

Attention, memory, and sensorimotor coordination are not located in just one single part of the brain

Left hemisphere is more involved than the right

Language is located in the left Language is a very important

part in our understanding of consciousness

Dynamics of the brain

One brain wave ever 12.5 milliseconds

40 cycles-per-second Occurs between thalamus

and cortex Neurons work together and

in rhythm

Conclusion

Cognition enables you not think about new things rather than things learned and in memory

Consciousness deals with new experiences, ideas and information

The brain and mind form a unity but, knowledge about them rely upon our own intangible ideas of consciousness