Abstract
This paper proposes a hypothesis about automatic nerve signal transmission and conscious primacy. If stimulated suddenly, people are initially unaware of the stimulation. Without conscious guidance, nerve signals are automatically transmitted via the strongest neural connections, thereby producing fast and involuntary behavior. Upon awareness of the stimulation, conscious primacy plays a role, and nerve signals are transmitted in consciously guided directions, thereby generating cognition and voluntary behaviors. When we repeat an action in a special environment, it will become a habit. This is because when nerve signals are repeatedly transmitted to action cells in a specific environment, neural connections between the specific environment and the action are strengthened. Upon return to this specific environment, nerve signals will be automatically transmitted, producing a stereotyped habit behavior without conscious thought. Facial expression, for example, is controlled by both emotion and cognition. Prior to emotional awareness of sudden stimulation, nerve signals are automatically transmitted, producing microexpressions consistent with emotion. Upon awareness, control switches from emotion to cognition, producing flexible facial expressions consistent with consciousness. The automatic nerve signal transmission and conscious primacy hypothesis suggests a new mechanism for producing different behaviors, reveals the essential difference and mutual transformation of stereotyped and flexible behaviors, and opens a new field for ethological study.
Highlights
People generally believe that decisions they make and the corresponding actions they perform are consciously initiated and controlled
This paper proposes a hypothesis about automatic nerve signal transmission and conscious primacy
Once the participant is aware of the emotion, the brain begins to be controlled by consciousness, at which time the conscious primacy principle initiates a change in nerve signal transmission
Summary
People generally believe that decisions they make and the corresponding actions they perform are consciously initiated and controlled. Patient P.S. has a left homonymous hemianopia resulting from right cerebral damage, and left-sided neglect persists despite free movement of her head and eyes. She reports that she cannot see anything on her left side. Two new pictures, one with flames on the right side of the house, and one house that was not on fire, were presented simultaneously. When P.S. was again asked which house she preferred, she immediately noticed the flames, and chose the non-burning house in six of six trials. We present the automatic nerve signal transmission and conscious primacy hypothesis. We first discuss the basic neurobiological mechanisms of automatic unconscious nerve signal transmission. We discuss our hypothesis in the context of experimental findings and use it to explain the generation of psychological phenomena including habits, dreams, and cocktail party effect
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
