Philosophy Wire: Consciousness, patient ‘R’, brain…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-08-25]:

Self-awareness is defined as being aware of oneself, including one's traits, feelings, and behaviors. Neuroscientists have believed that three brain regions are critical for self-awareness: the insular cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the medial prefrontal cortex.

However, a research team led by the University of Iowa has challenged this theory by showing that self-awareness is more a product of a diffuse patchwork of pathways in the brain -- including other regions -- rather than confined to specific areas.

The conclusions came from a rare opportunity to study a person (denoted as Patient ‘R’) with extensive brain damage to the three regions believed critical for self-awareness [source: 1, 2].

This is another blow to materialists thinking that consciousness is located in a specific sections of the brain… Consciousness could be the thing required for modern science to perform a massive paradigm shift and start thinking more spiritually, as it did once upon a time ago…

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