Consciousness and the Social BrainWhat is consciousness and how can a brain, a mere collection of neurons, create it? In Consciousness and the Social Brain, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano lays out an audacious new theory to account for the deepest mystery of them all. The human brain has evolved a complex circuitry that allows it to be socially intelligent. This social machinery has only just begun to be studied in detail. One function of this circuitry is to attribute awareness to others: to compute that person Y is aware of thing X. In Graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. Damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. Graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications of this new theory. |
Contents
Being Aware versus Knowing that You Are Aware 5 The Attention Schema | |
Illusions and Myths | |
Social Attention | |
Consciousness as Integrated Information | xxxii |
Neural Correlates of Consciousness | xlii |
Awareness and the Machinery for Social Perception | xlvii |
The Neglect Syndrome | liv |
Multiple Interlocking Functions of the Brain Area | lxi |
Simulating Other Minds | lxvi |
Some Spiritual Matters | lxxv |
Explaining the Magic Trick | xcix |
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Common terms and phrases
active apple attention schema theory attribute consciousness attributing awareness behavior Bill’s binocular rivalry body schema brain areas brain constructs brain regions brain system chapter chunk of information circuitry clinical neglect Cogn color common complex conscious experience consciousness type construct a model cues damage described emotions example expert system explain eye tracker feeling function gaze human brain hypothesis illusion information set informational model inside integrated information introspect intuition Item John’s look mechanism mental mirror neurons model of attention monkey neural Neuroimage Neuropsychologia Neurosci object parietal lobe patient people’s minds person physical predict present theory property of awareness proposed psychokinesis Psychol puppet representation scientific sensory signals social cognition social intelligence social machinery social neuroscience social perception spatial specific spirit squirrel suggested superior temporal sulcus theories of consciousness theory of mind thing thought TPJ and STS understand ventriloquism visual information visual system