Abstract
The Global Workspace Theory and Information Integration Theory are two of the most currently accepted consciousness models; however, these models do not address many aspects of conscious experience. We compare these models to our previously proposed consciousness model in which the thalamus fills-in processed sensory information from corticothalamic feedback loops within a proposed 3D default space, resulting in the recreation of the internal and external worlds within the mind. This 3D default space is composed of all cells of the body, which communicate via gap junctions and electrical potentials to create this unified space. We use 3D illustrations to explain how both visual and non-visual sensory information may be filled-in within this dynamic space, creating a unified seamless conscious experience. This neural sensory memory space is likely generated by baseline neural oscillatory activity from the default mode network, other salient networks, brainstem, and reticular activating system.
Highlights
The mystery of how consciousness arises is one of the biggest unanswered questions in science
We propose that all these processes occur in the neural sensory memory space of the 3D default space and that even the filling-in of temporal conscious events by the thalamus is influenced by attention and memory
- As other consciousness models have proposed, frontoparietal networks are important for consciousness; we propose that information processed by these networks must be sent back and integrated by the thalamus to rise to conscious awareness
Summary
The mystery of how consciousness arises is one of the biggest unanswered questions in science. Two properties of consciousness cause difficulty in elucidating its underlying mechanisms: consciousness consists of a first person experience which a third person cannot directly access and consciousness is an emergent property of a neural system which does not exist in its individual parts (Lehmann, 2013) These problematic properties of consciousness have necessitated many different hypotheses regarding how the brain works as the mind. Our model offers insights into various levels of consciousness such as coma, slow-wave sleep, REM and dream sleep, awake states, and higher consciousness states Further refinement of this model has the potential to elucidate a causative mechanism that leads the self into normal and abnormal psychological states and underlies consciousness
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