There is a recent paper in Cell, Distinct ventral stream and prefrontal cortex representational dynamics during sustained conscious visual perception, stating that, “every perception has non-zero duration—we gaze at a tree for some time, then shift our gaze to look at a fly that just landed on the table only to take off after a few seconds. All these experiences have a content (a tree, a fly) that extends not only in space but also in time. Which parts of the brain reflect our current perceptual experience and how their temporal dynamics correspond to the subjective experience are two major questions in the quest for understanding the neural correlates of conscious awareness. By manipulating stimulus duration, we were able to identify an important duality between these two aspects. In sensory regions, we find sustained and stable representation in an “experience subspace” embedded within the variable, diminishing neuronal responses. In frontoparietal regions, we found discrete (transient) content representation at stimulus onset.”
The postulation is about how duration may also determine consciousness. There are features and interactions of the components of mind that align with duration. Theoretically, the human mind is the collection of all the electrical and chemical impulses of nerve cells, with their features [in sets] and their interactions [in sets].
Whenever sets of electrical impulses ‘strike’ sets of chemical impulses [present at synapses], the force causes a rotation of the sets of chemical impulses. It is this rotation, conceptually, that can be said to be responsible for prioritized interactions, for whichever one rotates the most.
Simply, all strikes by electrical impulses produce rotations of chemical impulses, but the one with the most, becomes what gets attention or priority in that moment. Only one interaction of impulses is prioritized in the mind at any instance. This answers the binding problem.
The duration of the rotation may result in intensity. Duration may also determine why it is easier to control certain functions or body parts, than others, especially those that are internal.
All internal senses are modulated by their representative impulses on the mind. During sleep, most internal senses get prioritization, but since there are many parts, their prioritized duration is often shorter than for external senses.
Sight, smell, taste, touch and auditory senses are in higher pre-prioritization through waking hours. There are often several increased rotations, providing interchanges for prioritization. Motor functions are also pre-prioritized, but get prioritized as well. There are strikes that accelerate some rotations, but may return to uniform motion, shortly after, even if that sense is still in use, and can accelerate again. There could also be a rotation problem of the principal spot, which is sometimes responsible for experiences of heaviness, like in a depression.
This makes a theoretical case of duration for conscious experiences. Features of electrical impulses include early-splits or go-before, it is what makes perceptions different. There is often a splinter of the incoming electrical impulses from sensory data, to go on to ‘acquire’ chemical impulses like before, so that if it matches, nothing is done, but if not the rest in the beam goes to the right direction, explaining predictive coding, processing and prediction error.
Usually seeing something, there is an initial perception provided by this split, but with a longer duration, the rest in the beam follows. It is this rest that settles the perception, so that basic external reality for most people is the same. Like what a screen is, or what a keypad is or what a fluorescent is. Perceptions of choices for things can be different too because of splits or sequences [another feature of electrical impulses].
Consciousness has been a major problem in science. Then in recent months, generative AI platforms were able to do some of the dynamic mental processes that conscious humans do, showing that some descriptions of consciousness require adjustments.
What does consciousness do? This could be a way to update how to explain it, not just discussing consciousness along with subjective experience and what it feels like to be an organism. If red is seen, that means consciousness makes it possible to see red. So, what does it mean to see red or smell something?
Seeing is an abbreviation for seeing [and knowing]. When someone says a vehicle was seen, what it means is that it was seen and known. This seeing includes the sense of self, which is also known that it was the individual or the I, that saw the vehicle.
Knowing is purpose of consciousness or whatever consciousness does can be explained with knowing. This means that the interactions of the components of mind, the electrical and chemical impulses, structure knowing.
It could also mean that wherever these interactions exist, what they do is to know, regardless of degree or duration, maybe for sleep, for regulation and so forth. This changes the view that [basic mechanism of] consciousness is limited to parts of the thalamocortical area. It also changes the view that consciousness is solely for being or experience.
The cerebellum is said not to be active in consciousness but similar interactions of impulses are present. What might the difference be? For the functions of the cerebellum, interactions make determinations as elsewhere. The difference, conceptually, is that there are ‘drifts or stairs’ where rationing of sets of chemical impulses are present, so that fills in the cerebellum are different from the cerebral cortex. The same can be postulated for sleep, where the rationing of melatonin and adenosine determine the state, while most inputs from the entry port for external senses at the thalamus close out. Though with dreams. activities of the form of perceptions, are present, just without sensory inputs.
For what the cerebellum helps to know, with movements, balance and so forth, it has some consciousness. This is also similar to generative AI, with its copied intelligence, whose outputs can pass a test for knowing.
All that can be known is in the divisions of mind, chiefly memory, emotions and feelings. Thought is not a full division, because it represents transport but it is included in the expression. There are sub-divisions of the major divisions including sensations, perceptions, pain, intelligence, reasoning, creativity, appetite, pain, hurt and so forth.
The sum of all the divisions of consciousness is equal to 1. The equivalent of this is that the sum of all the interactions of the electrical and chemical impulses of mind is also equal to 1.
The cerebellum does helps movement, balance, muscle control, which can be categorized within memory. LLMs have memory, but has zero in the rest of the divisions. The cerebellum can be said to have a consciousness of around 0.20, which can sometimes be higher during prioritization. AI can be said to have around 0.10.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
