Transcript Consciousness and Cognition

Consciousness and Cognition
Chris Lamonde
Mr. Chessman
Nov. 30, 2005
Hnrs. Bio II
Introduction
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Try to think of nothing – it’s hard
Your mind will start to wonder with feelings,
ideas, or anything important to you
Is a difference between your personal
experiences and experiences
These operations happen at the prefrontal
lobes of the brain (Lights Up)
Conditions of Consciousness
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1st is being awake/alert
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The AFR ( ascending reticular formation) is
a network of neurological circuits located in
the core of the brainstem and extending
upward from the medulla to the cortex
Those neurons transfer and manufacture
neurotransmitters
Main purpose of this area is to keep you
awake and alert
2nd is being able to adapt to our
surroundings
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This is responding in countless situations
that are unfamiliar
Need to make choices/decisions
What parts of the brain do for our
consciousness
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AFR enables you to wake up
Hippocampus enables you to
remember
Frontal lobes give you
perspective and separation
between internal and external
events
Anterior Cingulate enables you
to focus and concentrate
Injury that effects consciousness
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Brain injury can effect consciousness
in 2 ways
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Mild – decease in alertness and
wakefulness
Severe – deep and irreversible coma
People may become unaware and
deny their injury
People may develop amnesia
Therefore the brain, mind, and
consciousness are closely connected
Relating Infants and Animals
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Tests done to babies that put a
rouge on their faces and then
were put in front of a mirror
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Children less than a year did
move
Children 15-18 months would
move their hand toward the
spot
Children 2-3 years old would
touch
Monkeys would acknowledge
themselves in the mirrors
Chimps moved toward the
rogue like the 15-18 month olds
Animals with each other
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Baboons recognize cries of other baboons
They also understand their family relationships and
place in the community
One chimp knew where food was and another that
did not know followed him around
The chimp that knew where food was misled the
other to places where the food wasn’t
Another called it’s mother to chase away another
female so he could steal the food
More about the brain
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Attention, memory, and
sensorimotor coordination are
not located in just one single
part of the brain
Left hemisphere is more
involved than the right
Language is located in the left
Language is a very important
part in our understanding of
consciousness
Dynamics of the brain
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One brain wave ever 12.5
milliseconds
40 cycles-per-second
Occurs between thalamus
and cortex
Neurons work together and
in rhythm
Conclusion
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Cognition enables you not think about new
things rather than things learned and in
memory
Consciousness deals with new experiences,
ideas and information
The brain and mind form a unity but,
knowledge about them rely upon our own
intangible ideas of consciousness