INTEGRISANI DUH. SVEST KAO REZULTAT FUNKCIONALNE INTEGRACIJE I FUNKCIONALNE SPECIJALIZACIJE NEURONSKIH STRUKTURA
INTEGRATED MIND

Summary/Abstract: Numerous experiments indicate a connection between integration of neural structures activities distributed widely across the brain and conscious experience. This paper will try to answer the question how does an interconnection of many elements of the remarkably complex system such as brain come about and which neural structures are the foundation of consciousness. Through examples of various syndromes, degenerative changes and aftermaths of surgical procedures, the role and importance of particular brain areas in the formation of conscious experience will be analyzed. Apart from experiments on living organisms, the analysis of integrative processes will be presented through computer simulations. It will turn out that consciousness appears when special conditions are satisfied, when there is a balance between two opposing tendencies within a neural system: a tendency for global integration and a tendency for local specialization. The system in which there is a balance between these two tendencies is situated in a metastable state. Metastability enables the system to have high levels of complexity and high levels of exchanged information within itself.

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