This presenation explains the neuroscientific basis of consciousness and the different brain region that interfere with it.

1. Consciousness a
process of the
brain or the
mind?
Dr Leila ALI
E-mail: leilaalimd@gmail.com

2. What is consciousness?
Neural firing, Garret Stuber,
university of North Carolina
Engram
ASTAR-microscopy

3. What are the functions of the brain?

4. What are the functions of the brain?

5. What are the functions of the brain?
Conscious processes
Movement
Volontary and involontary
Behavior: neuroendocrine system,
mirror neurons
Emotions and feelings
Desire and reward
Senses
How we feel and sense the world
The sixth sense
Pain
Social and moral behavior
Language and communication
Non verbal and verbal
Reading and writing
Memory and thinking
Non verbal and verbal
Reading and writing

6. Basic elements about consciousness
02
01 03
04
Historical and scientific
definition
Consciousness a process
of the Brain or the mind ?
Consciousness and art
Consciousness and the
body

7. 1. Historical approach of
consciousness

8. 1. Historical approach of consciousness

9. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?

10. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
CONSCIOUSNESS and the Mind
Default mode network (DMN)
Altering consciousness: mindfulness

11. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
CONSCIOUSNESS and the Mind
Default mode network (DMN)
Altering consciousness: mindfulness

12. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
A thought, feeling, or idea seems to be a different kind of thing from the physical objects that make up the rest of
the universe= A parallel reality.
CONSCIOUSNESS and the Mind

13. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
SPANDRELS
ÉCOINÇONS
Relaxed
Alert
Daydreamin
g
Drowsy
Non REM
sleep
Relaxed
general
Relaxed
observing
Relaxed
socializing
Focused
attention
(work)
Introception
REM
sleep

14. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
≠ modes of consciousness: emotions, sensations, thoughts, and perceptions.
≠ levels of neural activity, focus, and concentration.
Level of neural activity= intensity of consciousness.
Conscious thoughts:
75% : language,25%: senses and
perceptions
Conscious perception, Visual
phantoms: Phantom lines (imaginary perception)
CONSCIOUSNESS and the Mind

15. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
CONSCIOUSNESS and the Mind
Default mode network (DMN)
Altering consciousness: mindfulness

16. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
When the brain is not actively engaged in a
task it falls into one of a number of resting
states.
Default mode network (DMN)

17. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
THE BRAIN’S EGO
The thoughts associated with the DMN : self-centered
- Driven by one’s own autobiography and place
in the social hierarchy.
- Draw on half-forgotten memories and are colored
by emotion.
=> DMN is functionally the same as the Freudian ego.
Default mode network (DMN)

18. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
CONSCIOUSNESS and the Mind
Default mode network (DMN)
Altering consciousness: mindfulness

19. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
Altering consciousness: mindfulness
Parietal lobe
Altered activity here may
create out-of-body
feeling
or distorted experience
of
space and time
Corpus callosum
Allows the two hemispheres
to communicate; blissful
states are linked with
greater
synchrony between
hemispheres and sudden
switches of activity from one
hemisphere to another
Temporal lobe
Flurries of activity here
are associated with
unexplainable experiences,
including hallucinations and
sensing auras or an
invisible presence
Frontal lobe
May go “offline” in altered
states, reducing critical
thinking; can be
hyperactive
during meditation,
indicating
increased attention
Thalamus
May shut off
incoming
information, sending
a person into “a
world
of their own”
Reticular formation
Alerting signals from reticular
formation to cerebral cortex may
be reduced, causing increased
relaxation and sense of well-
being

20. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
Altering consciousness: Dissociation
Hypnosis Trance states Out-of-the-body experiences

21. 2. Consciousness a process of the
Brain or the mind ?
Altering consciousness: THE “BRAIN-IN-A-VAT”
Computer provides
stimulation
Brain
experiences
virtual world
THE MATRIX: This 1999 film explores the idea of virtual reality being the only “reality” humans experience. People’s brains are “plugged” into the
Matrix, a huge computer program simulating physical experience.

22. 3. Consciousness and the body

23. 3. Consciousness and the body
Actions
Memories
Thoughts
Sensations
Perceptions
Emotions
VIRTUAL

24. 4. Consciousness and Art

25. 4. Consciousness and Art
Poerty, writing
Music
Dancing
Theatre
Drawing and painting

26. 4. Consciousness and Art

27. 4. Consciousness and Art
Anterior
cingulate
cortex (ACC)
Right superior
temporal gyrus
“EUREKA MOMENT” AREAS
Activity in the superior temporal sulcus
in “eureka moments” signifies recognition
of a new association of ideas. Critical
analysis of new ideas sparks ACC activity.
Many stimuli
Consciousness
(some)
DMN
Ideas that don’t
seem useful
Creative network
Eurka Moment

28. Take home messages
Activities like mediation and
mindfulness are conscious
processes that help the brain
autoregulate
Consciousness interferes
with our actions,
sensationss, emotions and
body perception
Consciousness is indeed a
brain- related process
Creative processes are
increased when we reach a
balance between DMN and
task-oriented states
Consciousness interferes with
our social life and behavior
We can use consciousness to
regulate our neuroplasticity

29. Thank you!
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