Consciousness Transitions: Phylogenetic, Ontogenetic and Physiological Aspects

by Hans Liljenström (Editor), Peter Århem (Editor)

Overview

It was not long ago when the consciousness was not considered a problem for science. However, this has now changed and the problem of consciousness is considered the greatest challenge to science. In the last decade, a great number of books and articles have been published in the field, but very few have focused on the how consciousness evolves and develops, and what characterizes the transitions between different conscious states, in animals and humans. This book addresses these questions. Renowned researchers from different fields of science (including neurobiology, evolutionary biology, ethology, cognitive science, computational neuroscience and philosophy) contribute with their results and theories in this book, making it a unique collection of the state-of-the-art of this young field of consciousness studies.

• First book on the topic
• Focus on different levels of consciousness, including: Evolutionary, developmental, and functional
• Highly interdisciplinary

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780080554631
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	10/13/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Hans Liljenström is Professor at the Department of Biometry and Engineering, SLU, Uppsala, Sweden. His main research concerns mathematical and computational modelling of biological/neural systems and processes at different organisational scales. He has a long-standing interest in the brain-mind relation, and has co-edited several books and special issues on this topic.
Peter Århem is Professor at the Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology and Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. His research covers philosophical and neurophysiological aspects on the brain-mind problem, electrophysiological, biophysical, molecular and theoretical aspects on anesthesia and nerve cell function. Beside scientific articles he has also published on cultural and philosophical matters for a wider public.

Table of Contents

Preface
Contributors
1. Beyond Cognition - On Consciousness Transitions (P. Århem and H. Liljenström)
2. The Remote Roots of Consciousness in Fruit-fly Selective Attention (B. van Swinderen)
3. The Evolution of Consciousness in Animals (R.V. Rial, M.C. Nicolau, A. Gamundí, M. Akaârir, C. Garau and S. Esteban)
4. On the Origin of Consciousness - Some Amniote Scenarios (P. Århem, I. Lindahl, P. Manger and A. Butler)
5. A Bird's Eye View of Consciousness (E. MacPhail)
6. The Molecular Biology of Consciousness Investigated with Genetically Modified Mice (J-P. Changeux)
7. The Emergence of Consciousness in the Fetus and the Newborn (H. Lagercrantz)
8. An Inside-Out Paradigm for Consciousness and Intelligence (R. Cotterill)
9. Consciousness Without a Cerebral Cortex (B. Merker)
10. Three Types of State Transition Underlying Perception (W.J. Freeman)
11. Conscious Contents Provide and Coherent Global Information (B. Baars)
12. Evolutionary and Developmental Aspects of Intersubjectivity (P. Gärdenfors)
13. The Phenomenon of Consciousness from a Popperian Perspective (P. Munz)
Index

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From the Publisher

A unique collection of the state-of-the-art of this young field of consciousness studies.