You seem to think I am trying to prove the brain is not giving rise to the mind.
I am trying to demonstrate that we don't have the slightest idea what about the brain is giving rise to the mind. And therefore we don't know what the mind is. And therefore we can't speak to what it can and can't do.
This is why you ignore this question every time I write it.
No, I'm pointing out that it is quite clear that the activity of a functional brain is the source of mind, for the reasons I've been giving
The experience of consciousness/ mind being species related, cat range of behaviour, dog range of behaviour, human range of behavior and so on, with individual variability due to the individual experiences of each individual encoded in memory.
Quote;
''Instead of arguing whether a particular brain area or group of neurons contributes to consciousness or not, their strategy is to characterize the kinds of neural processes that might account for key properties of conscious experience. The authors emphasize two properties: conscious experience is integrated (each conscious scene is unified) and at the same time it is highly differentiated (within a short time, one can experience any of a huge number of different conscious states). Neurobiological data indicates that neural processes associated with conscious experience are highly integrated and highly differentiated.
Consciousness, as William James pointed out, is not a thing, but a process or stream that is changing on a time scale of fractions of seconds. As he emphasized, a fundamental aspect of the stream of consciousness is that it is highly unified or integrated. Integration is a property shared by every conscious experience irrespective of its specific content: Each conscious state comprises a single "scene" that cannot be decomposed into independent components (5).
Integration is best appreciated by considering the impossibility of conceiving of a conscious scene that is not integrated, that is, one which is not experienced from a single point of view. A striking demonstration is given by split-brain patients performing a spatial memory task in which two independent sequences of visuospatial positions were presented, one to the left and one to the right hemisphere. In these patients, each hemisphere perceived a separate, simple visual problem and the subjects were able to solve the double task well. Normal subjects could not treat the two independent visual sequences as independent, parallel tasks. Instead, they combined the visual information into a single conscious scene and into a single, large problem that was much more difficult to solve.
In summary: Conventional approaches to understanding consciousness are generally concerned with the contribution of specific brain areas or groups of neurons. By contrast, the authors consider what kinds of neural processes can account for key properties of conscious experience. Applying measures of neural integration and complexity, together with an analysis of extensive neurological data, leads to a testable proposal -- the dynamic core hypothesis -- about the properties of the neural substrate of consciousness.''
Quote;
''Due to the intrinsic electrical properties and the connectivity of thalamic neurones two groups of corticothalamic loops are generated, which resonate at a frequency of 40 Hz. The specific thalamo-cortical loops give the content of cognition and the no specific loop, the temporal binding required for the unity of the cognitive experience. Consciousness is then, a product of the resonant thalamo-cortical activity, and the dialogue between the thalamus and cortex, the process that generates subjectivity, the unique experience we all recognized as the existence of the "self".
Tell me. What specifically is the mind? Not vague uselessness "something the brain is doing".
What the brain is doing is forming a virtual representation of an interaction between sensory inputs, wavelength, pressure waves, etc, and memory through the means of neural structures and their information processing ability, hence the conscious experience of a cat is different to that of a human.
This virtual representation is composed of multiple attributes and features - as pointed out in the article above - vision, hearing, feelings, thoughts and decisions....all specific to the brain in question, human, cat, dog, mouse....
What is not understood is how the brain generates its virtual representation of sensory information and memory in conscious mental form: mind.
That is not understood. But that does not mean we should be running through the woods proclaiming that nothing is understood and because nothing is understood, the mind is probably not generated by the brain. This is not warranted given that something is understood, some things may be tested: mind altering substances, the consequences of structural failure and memory failure.
You claim that this may mean the brain is a receiver, but we don't have a single example of disembodied mind to study, therefore not a single example of mind at large beaming information into brains, information that, strangely, is specific to each and every individual brain.
Apply Occam's Razor.
And you talk about all those studies but what they clearly show is a mind influences the brain. Something we clearly sense as well. Our mind "tells" the arm to rise and it does.
They do no such thing. It is always the state of the brain that is reflected in the expression of its mind, motor actions may be separated from conscious report of an intended action, and the connection may be severed altogether, involuntary movements, switches, jerks and so on.
The fundamentals of Cognition.
1) ''Neurons [/url]are nerve cells (neurocytes), which, together with neuroglial cells, comprise the nervous tissue making up the nervous system. The neuron is the integral element of our five senses and of countless other physical, regulatory, and mental faculties, including memory and consciousness. A neuron consists of a nerve cell body (or soma), an elongated projection (axon), and short branching fibers (called dendrites). Neurons receive nerve signals (action potentials), integrate action potentials, and transmit these signals to other neurons or effector organs, such as muscles and glands. The structure and function of neurons is essentially the same in all animals, although the human nervous system is much more specialized and complicated than that of lower animals.''
''At the axon hillock, chemical signals received by the dendrites may reach a threshold level to cause a wave of electrical depolarization and hyperpolarization of the axon cell membrane. The net movements of ions across the cell membrane are responsible for these changes that move down the axon to the axon terminus as an action potential. At the axon terminus, neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic gap. Through synaptic gaps, a typical neuron may interconnect with thousands and tens of thousands of other neurons. Axon terminals have knob-like swellings at the very end called synaptic knobs or end buttons. Each synaptic knob communicates with a dendrite or cell body of another neuron, the point of contact being a synapse.''
Memory is physically formed within neurons and neural pathways, shapes of proteins and - ''during the habitution of a repeated action, excitatory synapses from the sensory neurons onto motor neurons and interneurons undergo depression''' (well worn neural pathways facilitate a quick and well 'learnt' response) and sensory impulses travelling along pathways are modified by these memory 'markers' - which in turn stimulate the neural cell to respond in a particular way, signaling the production of seratonin, glandular secretions, and motor neuron functions, consciously perceived as feelings, etc...neurons do not make conscious choices, yet a response is achieved according to the stimulus that is applied to the neuron by the kind of input it receives, which means the response may, as mentioned above, entail a release of neurochemicals and a motor responses. Again, according to the nature of the stimulus that is applied by input to the cells, networks and structures and not by an action of 'conscious will'
''Among the brain's modular processors, some do not extract and process signals from the environment, but rather from the subject's own body and brain. Each brain thus contains multiple representations of itself and its body at several levels''
(Damasio,1999).
''The physical location of our body is encoded in continuously updated somatic, kinesthetic, and motor maps. Its biochemical homeostasis is represented in various subcortical and cortical circuits controlling our drives and emotions. We also represent ourselves as a person with an identity (presumably involving face and person-processing circuits of the inferior and anterior temporal lobes) and an autobiography encoded in episodic memory. Finally, at a higher cognitive level, the action perception, verbal reasoning, and `theory of mind' modules that we apply to interpret and predict other people's actions may also help us make sense of our own behavior
Once mobilized into the conscious workspace, the activity of those `self-coding' circuits would be available for inspection by many other processes, thus providing a putative basis for reflexive or higher-order consciousness.''
(Fletcher et al., 1995; Gallese, Fadiga, Fogassi, & Rizzolatti, 1996; Weiskrantz, 1997)''.
More;
''To successfully interact with objects in the environment, sensory evidence must be continuously acquired, interpreted, and used to guide appropriate motor responses. For example, when driving, a red light should motivate a motor command to depress the brake pedal. Single-unit recording studies have established that simple sensorimotor transformations are mediated by the same neurons that ultimately guide the behavioral response. However, it is also possible that these sensorimotor regions are the recipients of a modality-independent decision signal that is computed elsewhere. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and human observers to show that the time course of activation in a subregion of the right insula is consistent with a role in accumulating sensory evidence independently from the required motor response modality (saccade vs manual). Furthermore, a combination of computational modeling and simulations of the blood oxygenation level-dependent response suggests that this region is not simply recruited by general arousal or by the tonic maintenance of attention during the decision process. Our data thus raise the possibility that a modality-independent representation of sensory evidence may guide activity in effector-specific cortical areas before the initiation of a behavioral response''.
Perceptual processing - Superior colliculus
Modulation of cognition (memory, attention) - Cingulate cortex Hippocampus Basal forebrain
Representation of emotional response -Somatosensory-related cortices
Representation of perceived action - Left frontal operculum, Superior temporal gyrus
Motivational evaluation - Amygdala, Orbitofrontal cortex
Social reasoning - Prefrontal cortex
In other words:
''The brain is a physical system whose operation is governed solely by the laws of chemistry and physics. What does this mean? It means that all of your thoughts and hopes and dreams and feelings are produced by chemical reactions going on in your head (a sobering thought). The brain's function is to process information. In other words, it is a computer that is made of organic (carbon-based) compounds rather than silicon chips. The brain is comprised of cells: primarily neurons and their supporting structures. Neurons are cells that are specialized for the transmission of information. Electrochemical reactions cause neurons to fire. ''
''Neurons are connected to one another in a highly organized way. One can think of these connections as circuits -- just like a computer has circuits. These circuits determine how the brain processes information, just as the circuits in your computer determine how it processes information. Neural circuits in your brain are connected to sets of neurons that run throughout your body. Some of these neurons are connected to sensory receptors, such as the retina of your eye. Others are connected to your muscles. Sensory receptors are cells that are specialized for gathering information from the outer world and from other parts of the body.''
