BRINGING CONSCIOUSNESS TO COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE: A COMPUTATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Samsonovich, Alexei V.

Affiliations: Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University at Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Abstract: This paper focuses on three connected to each other fundamental beliefs that appear to be unconsciously taken for granted at the basis of modern cognitive neuroscience: (i) the attractor hypothesis, (ii) the neural code hypothesis, and (iii) the supervenience hypothesis about human subjective experience. Their precise understanding and experimental verification is an important challenge that calls for a scientific paradigm change and needs to be addressed for future progress in cognitive neuroscience. The work presents a theoretical analysis and preliminary experimental and modeling results that suggest a roadmap to solving the challenge.

Keywords: semantic cognitive mapping, attractor dynamics, computational consciousness

Journal: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 19-30, 2007