The evolutionary and neurobiological attributes of consciousness: an update.

Abstract

Consciousness is most frequently defined as a subjective experience of mental processes. The phenomenon of consciousness has always been a subject of great interest in various fields of science, including psychiatry, and the most prominent scientists have engaged in research on it. The studies performed in recent years have brought about novel data on the evolutionary and neurobiological attributes of this phenomenon. In the first part of the article, the evolutionary concepts of consciousness are presented, going back to the beginnings of life on our planet. They are proposed by such illustrious scientists as Joseph LeDoux, Daniel Dennett, António Damásio, and Arthur Reber. Each of them presents the issue of consciousness in the context of evolution slightly differently. However, there are many similarities concerning the development of the nervous system and mental life. The second part discusses the novel research on the cognitive and neurobiological components of consciousness. Among many researchers of this issue, we chose the achievements of two British authors such as Chris Frith and Anil Seth. The neuroanatomical and perceptive aspects of both the level and context of consciousness are provided. Besides presenting the contemporary evolutionary and neurobiological concepts of consciousness, the article aims to bring closer the profiles of the prominent researchers of neuroscience mentioned here. This term can be translated into Polish as "neuronauka", although our country's most frequently used name is "neurobiologia."