antonio damasio self comes to mind constructing the ... · antonio damasio self comes to mind...
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Antonio DamasioSELF COMES TO MIND
Constructing the Conscious Brain (2010)
An introduction by Erik Christensen
Aalborg University Denmark
University of Jyväskylä, Finland 25th January 2011
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[email protected] www.timespace.dk http://vbn.aau.dk
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Central idea
The BODY is a foundation of THE CONSCIUOS MIND
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How can we observe consciousness?
Three Perspectives:
Personal introspectionObserving external behaviors
Studying brain functions
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The MIND can be conscious of
PAST & FUTURE
OBJECTS & EVENTS
BODY STATESwith degrees of
pain pleasure
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What is Mind?
MIND is
A mental stream of organized images
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IMAGES are created by MAPPINGThe brain maps
The worldThe body
And its own doings
MAPS are momentary patterns which can be experienced as
IMAGES in the MIND
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IMAGESmay have any kind of sense origin:
visual auditory tactile visceral
smell taste
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CONSCIOUS MIND = MIND + SELF
The MIND is a process:a flowing mix of images
The SELF is the KNOWER:The OWNER of the MIND
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The SELF is also a process
The SELF is present whenever we are CONSCIOUS:
The process of KNOWING
SELF adds subjectivity to the MIND
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Central idea
FEELING pervades the images
we perceive subjectively
The SELF is always felt
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Three levels of SELF:
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SELF
CORE SELF
PROTOSELF
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SELFis
The feeling of knowing
that I am ME and I have a MEMORY
I know that I have a past and a futureand social and cultural relations
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CORE SELFis
The feeling of knowing what happens
My organism has RELATIONSHIPS to OBJECTS and EVENTS
and I can ACT upon them
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PROTOSELFis
The feeling of knowingthat my body exists
This is a PRIMORDIAL FEELINGwhich has a valence:
a degree of pain pleasure
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Which living beings may possess an autobiographical self?
Probably
Humans, apesMarine mammals
ElephantsWolves, dogs, cats
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Music
Boccherini Cello Concerto in Bb Major (Adagio)
Listening suggestions:
Feelings evoked in your body?Movements and events in the music?Your personal knowledge, memories,
opinions, preferences?
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Central idea
FEELINGS and EMOTIONSare distinguishable processes
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EMOTIONS are complex, largely automated programs
of ACTIONS carried out in the body
FEELINGSare images of EMOTIONS:
PERCEPTIONS executed in brain maps
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vCentral idea
All feelings of emotions are complex variations on PRIMORDIAL FEELINGS
Body and brain bondin a perpetual resonant loop
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B
Brain regions of interest: Brain stem - Thalamus - Cortex
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Brain stem and Thalamus
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Thalamus connections
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Key structures in charge of implementingCONSCIOUSNESS:
Widespread Regions of CORTEX
THALAMIC NUCLEI
UPPER BRAIN STEM
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Central idea
The BRAIN STEM controls basic life functionsand is a critical contributor to CONSCIOUSNESS
Early FEELINGS generated by ongoing life eventsare primordial constituents of MIND
and indispensable components of the SELF
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1.Pineal gland2.Thalamus ( Pulvinar )3.Superior colliculus4.Inferior colliculus5.Lemniscal trigone6.Frenulum veli7.Superior medullary velum8.Median sulcus9.Gracile tubercle10.Cuneate tubercle11.Posterior intermediate sulcus12.Posteromedian sulcus13.Vagal trigone14.Hypoglossal trigone15.Striae medullares16.Facial colliculus17.Locus coeruleus18.Parabrachial recess19.Crus cerebri20.Inferior collicular brachium21.Medial geniculate body22.Lateral geniculate body23.Suoerior collicular brachium24.Habenula25.Habenular commissure
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Schematic illustrationof brainstem nuclei and connections
(Thalamus is not shown)
HypothalamusSC: Superior colliculus
PAG: Periaqueductal Grey
PBN: Parabrachial NucleusNTS: Nucleus Tractus Solitarius
AP: Area PostremaOther brain stem nuclei(regulate wakefulness and release
neurotransmitters to cortex)
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The BRAIN STEMprocesses information needed to
represent the body and control its life
The THALAMUSdisseminates signals from the BRAIN STEMto a widespread territory of the CORTEX
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What about MUSIC?
Auditory information is processed in five brain stem nuclei
before arriving at the cortex
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The auditory pathway
Cortex
Medial Geniculate NucleusInferior Colliculus
Nucleus of Lateral Lemniscus
Superior Olivary NucleusCochlear Nucleus
... plus one
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THE SUPERIOR COLLICULUSpermits integration
of visual, auditory and somatic information
before this information is forwarded to the EARLY SENSORY CORTICES for
vision, hearing and somatic sensation which produce images in the mind
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Processing of pleasant or unpleasant visual stimuli may take 500 milliseconds
before a feeling is reported by the conscious mind
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Some brain areasincluding early sensory cortices
Somatosensory
Visual
Auditory
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(3) The SUPERIOR COLLICULUS
has seven layers.The deep layers contain
superposed maps ofvisual, auditory and somatic information
(4) The INFERIOR COLLICULUS
is an important way stationfor auditory signals on the
way to the cortex
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My suggestions:
MUSIC has an immediate and direct impact
on vital body functionsdue to the connections of nuclei
in the brain stem
MUSICis immediately integrated
with vision and body sensationsdue to the connections
in the superior colliculus
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http://vbn.aau.dk/en/persons/erik-christensen(42f961df-45ff-4150-99ea-139d0a57a674).html
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DAMASIO’S APPROACH
is not to propose a definitive theory of consciousness
but to articulate a number of hypotheseswhich constitute a FRAMEWORK
for the explanation of MIND and SELFand the structures of the
CONSCIOUS BRAIN
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Thank you ... and happy new ears!
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