At the beginning of the year, I had to answer difficult questions relating to the nature of consciousness. What is the relationship between the mind and the brain? Are the mind and body different kinds of substance—mental and physical—that exist independently? Or does the universe exist of only one kind of substance—either physical or mental. The one theory that I found ridiculous and not plausible is the materialistic view—the view that everything that exists is material, or physical. If everything that existed were material then we would not have thoughts and ideas—freedom, happiness, gravity, etc. On the other hand, mentalism—the belief that only the mind exists and that the physical world could not exist unless some mind were aware of it, is more plausible, because what may seem material/physical could be just an illusion of the mind. I thought that the mind and brain do exist independently, but they influence each other, because I felt that I truly exist and can sense both physical and nonphysical things: “Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman.” Three topics that I have studied this year that have expanded my knowledge on the nature of consciousness are attention, pain perception, and emotion.
Naturally attention and consciousness are closely related. Attention can be defined as a state of consciousness characterized by such concentration. Another definition of attention is notice or awareness. When something or someone has your attention, it means that you are focusing your consciousness on that object or person of your own volition. Consciousness can be defined as the state of being aware of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, and surroundings. Another definition of consciousness is special awareness or sensitivity. In order to be conscious of one’s own existence one must be able to focus attention on the fact that he exists. However, just how much attention is needed in order to gain a sense of consciousness? Is a dog aware of his own existence? Some people would agree, because their dog responds to his name, reacts badly when hurt, gets excited when praised, etc. Yet, some people would claim this is not the same thing as being conscious. To some consciousness is a term that solely relates to humans. Having different interpretations of the connotations of the words attention and consciousness makes discussing them difficult as there is no true universal meaning yet. In order for a universal meaning to come about, scientists must continue research in the subject areas related to attention and consciousness. This would be difficult, because if the unconscious is what we are unaware of, we would not be able to determine how much we truly are unconscious of and how much we truly are conscious of. So, even then the subject of the nature of consciousness will be debatable and controversial. Nonetheless, we have multifarious tests that test attention, such as, the choice delay task, the stop signal task, and the attentional blink task. The choice delay task is the choice between one reward now and one slightly better reward later. Many kids with ADD will choose the lesser reward immediately, rather than a better reward letter. The stop signal task requires people to watch a screen or listen for a sound; when they hear it they press a button as fast as possible. However, sometimes a stimulus occurs a split second after the first one meaning “disregard the signal; don’t press the button.” Most people with ADHD are more likely than others to press the button. The attentional blink task requires people to watch a series of black letters flash on a screen, a new one every 90ms. In each set one of the letters is green. Another letter designated as the “probe letter” might or might not appear after the green letter. The task is first to name the green letter and then to say whether or not the probe letter appeared after the green letter. Just because one is not conscious of something, one cannot conclude that it does not exist. For example, some people have spatial neglect, which is the tendency to ignore the left side of the body and its surroundings or the left side of objects. Yet, the person is still conscious of this part of his body although his attention is usually not focused on it. Therefore, attention and consciousness go hand in hand. It is impossible to talk about one without the other.
The next topic in neuroscience that relates to the nature of consciousness is pain perception. Pain is an unpleasant sensation that occurs in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder. Perception is a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is presented. The physical aspect of pain is easier to study and to experiment with than the emotional aspect of pain. However, each individual experiences the sensation of pain in different intensities and ways than others. Pain perception is linked with the nature of consciousness because without pain could we truly know we are alive? This reminds me of a song lyric: “And you can’t fight the tears that ain’t coming; Or the moment of truth in your lies; When everything feels like the movies; Yeah you bleed just to know you’re alive.” Without pain, life would seem so unreal and dream-like. Pain helps people become conscious they are touching a hot pan and helps people understand when they have done something wrong or even when something wrong has been done to them: “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.” Therefore, pain fuels consciousness. Without pain we are not conscious. Yet, if we are not conscious we do not feel pain. For example, when a certain part of the body is anesthetized, no matter what is inflicted upon that area, the person will feel nothing. Of course, emotional pain is more difficult to research than physical pain. For physical pain, pain sensation begins with the least specialized of all receptors, a bare nerve ending. Some pain receptors respond to acids and heat above 110 degrees Farenheit. The axons carrying pain information have little to no myelin and conduct impulses relatively slowly. Sharp pain is conveyed by the thicker and faster axons, whereas dull pain is conveyed by the thinner and slower axons. The axons enter the spinal cord where they release either glutamate or Substance P. Mild pain releases the neurotransmitter glutamate. The pain-sensitive cells relay the information to the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus and the somatosensory nucleus in the parietal lobe. The somatosensory cortex detects the nature of the pain and its location on the body and responds to both painful stimuli and signals warning of pain. As for emotional pain, the thalamus, the amygdala, the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, and cingulated cortex react. When a person watches someone he cares about experience pain he feels a “sympathetic pain” that activates the cingulated cortex. The line between the ideas of pain sensation and consciousness is far from distinct; it is often overlapping and paradoxical.
Finally, the topic of emotion aids to the understanding of consciousness. Emotion can be defined as an effective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experiences, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. Some may say that emotion in a sense is consciousness, because it is what makes us human. Others would say it is not necessary for being conscious. However, the fact that we are conscious allows us to feel emotions. And because we feel emotions, we know we are conscious. In psychology, there are three main theories of emotion—James-Lange theory, Cannon-Bard theory, and Cognitive Appraisal theory. The James-Lange theory of emotion states that biological and physiological responses in the body occur after an event has taken place, and then an emotion is felt. For example, I am sad because I am crying. Basically, this theory states that emotions are the labels we give to our physiological responses. The Cannon-Bard theory states that biological and physiological responses and emotions occur simultaneously. The Cognitive Appraisal theory, on the other hand, states that cognition occurs before our bodily responses and emotions. For example, you are taking a hike in the woods and you come across a bear. First you will think “Oh that’s a bear. I am supposed to be scared.” Next your heart rate speeds up and you feel afraid. All three theories have truth in them. The unique situation determines which theory is applicable.
In conclusion, the nature of consciousness is a very complex and controversial topic that is closely related to and even incorporates attention, perception of pain, and emotion. Without attention one could not feel pain nor any emotion because of lack of awareness. And the lack of awareness is the lack of consciousness. Without the perception of pain one could not fully appreciate his existence, because his attention would not be focused where it should in order to learn. He would not learn much and would seem unreal, dreamlike, and half conscious. Without emotion one has no clear sense of consciousness. Therefore the three main components of the nature of consciousness are attention, perception of pain, and emotion. Although my views on consciousness have not changed since the beginning of the year, they have expanded in more depth due to the information I have learned.
