The Design of a Sensation-generating Mechanism in the Brain: A first step towards a quantitative definition of consciousness

Rosen, Alan and Rosen, David B. (2006) The Design of a Sensation-generating Mechanism in the Brain: A first step towards a quantitative definition of consciousness. Consciusness and Cognition, CONCOG-06-00174 (tbd).

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Abstract

Subjective experiences called sensations, described as modalities of biological receptors, have been correlated with the receptors, the afferent axons, and the central connection in the brain that they activate. The central connections, represented by a neuronal circuit, may be viewed as a sensation generating mechanism that generates the sensation defined by the modality of the receptor. The sensation generating circuit, consisting of the afferent axons and the central connections in the brain activated by the receptor, is studied by reverse engineering the “itch-feeling” modality of a mechanoreceptor. The study is performed on a robotic model, called a itch-scratch robotic model, that is designed to reverse engineer the sensorimotor control functions of human “itch-scratch” behavior patterns. The subjective experiences of the robot, viewed as modalities of robotic sensors, may form a basis for a quantitative definition of “consciousness” that consists of modalities described as sensations and emotions.

Comments/Discussion

This paper presents a reverse engineered design of the neurophysiology of a portion of the brain. The design of the reverse engineered circuit, called a Neuronal Correlate of a Modality (NCM)-circuit, may be related to the philosophical Neural Correlate of Consciousness (NCC). In the field of psychophysics, the NCM-circuit is a sensation generating mechanism, that generates the sensation defined by the modality of a receptor (and the associated central connections in the brain). The relevance to consciousness is encapsulated in the title. Is the neurophysiology associated with the NCM "a first step towards a quantitative definition of consciousness" ?

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