Consciousness as a Memory System.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Current theories struggle to explain the developmental origins and co-opted functions of consciousness.
• Episodic memory, if solely for accurate recall, appears inefficient due to its fallibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel theory on the evolutionary development and function of consciousness.
• To re-evaluate the purpose of episodic memory as a system for future planning.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis integrating evolutionary psychology and neuroscience.
• Examination of episodic memory's role in flexible information recombination.
• Comparison of the proposed theory with existing explanations for consciousness phenomena.

Main Results:

• Consciousness likely originated as a component of episodic memory, facilitating flexible information recombination.
• Consciousness was subsequently co-opted for non-memory-related functions like abstract thought and language.
• The theory aligns with observed characteristics of consciousness, such as its slow speed and retrospective ordering.

Conclusions:

• Episodic memory and associated systems (sensory, working, semantic) constitute the 'conscious memory system'.
• The cerebral cortex is identified as the neural substrate enabling consciousness.
• The proposed framework offers new perspectives on intentional action and the nature of consciousness.