The Neurology of Self-Awareness

Posted 17 Jan 2007 at 00:20 UTC by steve

"What is the self? How does the activity of neurons give rise to the sense of being a conscious human being? Even this most ancient of philosophical problems, I believe, will yield to the methods of empirical science." So begins a new article by V. S. Ramachandran published on The Edge titled, The Neurology of Self-Awareness . Ramachandran, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, starts with some suggestions of scientists such as Marvin Minsky and proceeds from there to the importance of mirror neurons to our self awareness. Interestingly, his article includes some testable predictions for a mirror neuron theory of self awareness, something most theories of consciousness seem to leave out. For more on Ramachandran's ideas, read his book, A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness .

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