Mindmelding: connected brains and the problem of consciousness

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Mind
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Conscious states are widely believed to be private, accessible only to the individual experiencing them.
• This perceived privacy presents a challenge to understanding consciousness as a physical phenomenon.
• Distinguishing between conscious representations and executive processes is key to understanding subjective experience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To challenge the assumption of the necessary privacy of conscious states.
• To propose a theoretical framework for the direct experience of another's consciousness.
• To explore the physical basis of consciousness and the sense of self.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical argument based on brain function and connectivity.
• Hypothesizing a neurosurgical experiment involving the rerouting of neural pathways.
• Differentiating the roles of posterior cortical regions (perceptual representations) and prefrontal regions (executive processes).

Main Results:

• The study posits that conscious perceptual states reside in posterior brain regions (temporal and parietal lobes).
• Executive functions, including the sense of self, are primarily located in prefrontal regions.
• Severing and rerouting connections between posterior and prefrontal regions could enable intersubjective conscious experience.

Conclusions:

• Direct experience of another's conscious states is theoretically possible.
• This possibility supports the view of conscious states as physical phenomena.
• The proposed model offers new insights into the neural basis of consciousness and selfhood.