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Chapter 16 - States of consciousness: normal and abnormal variation

from Part I - The cognitive science of consciousness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
J. Allan Hobson
Edited by
Philip David Zelazo ,
Morris Moscovitch  and
Evan Thompson
Philip David Zelazo
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Morris Moscovitch
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Evan Thompson
Affiliation:
University of York
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Summary

The normal and abnormal variations in conscious state operate through three fairly well-understood physiological processes: activation (A), input-output gating (I), and modulation (M). This chapter provides an account of the phenomenology of the variations in conscious state, and shows how three mediating brain processes, activation, input-output gating, and modulation, interact over time so as to account for those variations in a unified way. It focuses on variations in consciousness during the sleep-wake cycle across species and draws on evidence from lesion, electrophysiological, and functional neuroimaging studies. By studying the way that consciousness is normally altered when we fall asleep and when we dream, it is possible to obtain insights about how the brain mediates consciousness. Armed with the AIM model, it is possible to obtain a unified view of the genesis of a wide variety of normal and abnormal changes in conscious experience.

Keywords

artificial intelligencecognitive resourcescomputational modelsDaniel Dennettconsciousnesscomputational systemcomputationalist theory
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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