M.S./
PH.D PROGRAM IN CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES
A collaborative Program of
the Bhaktivedanta Institute and
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
CONS
ZG532: NEUROSCIENCE AND
CONSCIOUSNESS
1999 - 2000
Ever
since the ancient Greeks, it was noted that there is something to subjective
experience that eludes understanding. Apparently, the failure was merely due to
the poor knowledge about the brain at that time. In reality, however, it turned
out that the problem had nothing to do with scientific knowledge of any kind. In
fact, in retrospect it is quite safe to state that the more science increases
our understanding of the operation of brain, the more acute the puzzle of
consciousness becomes.
This
course provides a journey into the two opposite facets of the mind-body problem.
It begins with the observable side of human behavior where scientific research
deepens our understanding day by day, and then turns to the parallel realm of
conscious experiences which has remained as elusive as ever. It ends with some
speculations as to how this ageold impasse might one day be finally overcome.
Grading
Evaluation Schedules
Number of Class-room
Hours: 42
SYLLABUS
1.
Introduction to the nervous system. The building blocks of
neurophysiology: neuron, axon, dendrite and synapse. Sensory, motor and
inter-neurons. Basic principles governing neuron signaling. Basic neuronal
mechanisms: reflex, instinct and conditioning. Environmental determinants of the
development of the infant’s nervous system.
2.
Uphill the neural hierarchy. The peripheral nervous system. The
autonomic subsystem: sympathetic and parasympathetic. Feedback loops and
antagonistic systems. The voluntary system. Introduction to the central nervous
system.
3.
An evolutionary interlude. Evolution’s skill of transforming
organ functions and its neurological expressions. Jackson’s “hierarchy of
functions” and its phylogenetic significance. Von Holst’s “reafference
mechanism” and its cognitive analogues. Lorenz’s ethological theory.
Freud’s architecture of the mind and the modern psychoanalytic view.
4.
The central nervous system. The spinal cord. Brain archaeology:
brain-stem, cerebellum, limbic system and cortex. Cortical lobes and functional
centers. Instinctual seats: hunger, aggression, sex. Recent findings concerning
the amygdala. Hemispheric asymmetry. Experimental pioneers: Brocca, Penfield,
Sperry, Gazzaniga, LaDeux. Modern
imaging techniques and their findings.
5.
The Where and When of Consciousness. Certain brain processes are
associated with consciousness while others are not. Does that allow locating the
“seat” of consciousness? Crick & Koch’s model; MRI and PET simulations
of mental processes.
6.
Conscious vs. unconscious processing. Subliminal perception
research. Dream research. The cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious. Is
there an advantage to consciousness?
7.
The pitfalls of biological psychiatry. Can genes account for
depression / schizophrenia/ you name it? Current epidemiological research and
its philosophical and ethical implications.
8.
Towards a unified psychophysiology. Prospects for a merger between
behavioral, cognitive, psychodynamic and neurophysiological perspectives.
PART II: PHILOSOPHICAL
DISCONTENTS(Lectures 20-38)
1.
Definitions of consciousness. First, what consciousness is not:
it must not be confused with thoughts, memories, emotions, feelings, etc. All
these could occur without consciousness being present. That they do have
a conscious ingredient is the reason for all the fuss.
2.
What’s the mind-body problem with you anyway? Three derivatives
of the riddle: i) the problem of qualia, ii) the problem of other
minds and iii) the problem of personal identity.
3.
Instructive thought-experiments. Leibnitz’s windmill, Nagel’s
“being a bat,” Jackson’s color-blind neurophysiologist, Chalmers’ zombie
world and Elitzur’s person duplication
4.
Chalmers’ minor but important revolution. The “hard” vs.
the “easy” problems.
5.
Elitzur’s “bafflement argument.” Can there be a revised
Turing test for consciousness per se? Does consciousness makes an
evolutionary difference? Objections and replies.
6.
Theories. Eliminative materialism, interactionist dualism,
parallelism, epiphenomenalism and other ’isms.
7.
Why they are all no good.
PART
III: ILLICIT SPECULATIONS(Lectures 39-42)
1.
The enigma of time. Time’s apparent transience. Time’s arrow.
Are they related?
2.
Quantum mechanics. Related? Irrelevant? Genuine vs. coincidental
affinities.
3. Can there ever be a solution? Prolegomena to any future revolution in consciousness research.
REFERENCES
1. Michael S Gazzaniga, The Integrated Mind, Plenum Press, NY, 1978
2. Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical, A touch stone book, 1970
3., The Cognitive Neuroscience, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 1995
4. Richard F. Thompson, The Brain – A Neuroscience Primer, WH Freeman & co., 1996
5. John C. Eccles, How the Self Controls its brain, Springer Verlag, 1994
6. Hameroff, Kaszniak and Scott, Toward a Science of Consciousness, MIT press, 1996.
7. Joseph Ledoux ,The Emotional Brain, A touchstone book, Simon & Schuster, 1996
8. Colin A. Ross and Alvin Pam, Pseudoscience in biological psychiatry, John Wiley & Sons, 1995