Space, self, and the theater of consciousness

Trehub, Arnold (2007) Space, self, and the theater of consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition, 16 (2). pp. 310-330.

Full text available as:

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader 555 Kb

Alternative URL: http://people.umass.edu/trehub/

Abstract

Over a decade ago, I introduced a large-scale theory of the cognitive brain which explained for the first time how the human brain is able to create internal models of its intimate world and invent models of a wider universe. An essential part of the theoretical model is an organization of neuronal mechanisms which I have named the Retinoid Model [Trehub, A. (1977). Neuronal models for cognitive processes: Networks for learning, perception and imagination. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 65, 141-169; Trehub, A. (1991). The Cognitive Brain: MIT Press]. This hypothesized brain system has structural and dynamic properties enabling it to register and appropriately integrate disparate foveal stimuli into a perspectival, egocentric representation of an extended 3D world scene including a neuronally tokened locus of the self which, in this theory, is the neuronal origin of retinoid space. As an integral part of the larger neuro-cognitive model, the retinoid system is able to perform many other useful perceptual and higher cognitive functions. In this paper, I draw on the hypothesized properties of this system to argue that neuronal activity within the retinoid structure constitutes the phenomenal content of consciousness and the unique sense of self that each of us experiences.

Comments/Discussion

The hallmark of consciousness is a transparent phenomenal experience of the world from a privileged egocentric perspective [See Revonsuo (2006). Inner Presence: MIT Press]. This paper explains how a previously proposed system of brain mechanisms (the Retinoid model) creates our internal representation of a 3D world from an egocentric perspective, and supports the proposition that a core self exists as a discrete neuronal part of the cognitive brain. The retinoid system can be taken as the neuronal embodiment of Baar's Global Work Space since it is a global representational space with widespread output to, and input from all sensory processing modalities in the brain.

Repository Staff Only: edit this item