Neuroscientists discover 'engine of consciousness' hiding in monkeys' brains

Neuroscientists discover 'engine of consciousness' hiding in monkeys' brain

A team of researchers has found an "engine of consciousness" in the brain — a region where, in monkeys at least, even a little jump start will make them wake up from anesthesia.

Consciousness is a mystery. We don't know for certain why creatures are sometimes awake and sometimes asleep, or which mechanisms in the brain are most important for a conscious state. In this new paper, though, researchers turned up some important clues. Using electrodes across the brains of awake and sleeping macaques, as well as macaques under different forms of anesthesia, the team found two key pathways in the monkeys' brains for consciousness. The researchers also found a specific brain region that seems to get those pathways going, like an engine they could start using some highly specialized jumper cables. That region is known as the central lateral thalamus...more at source

Fascinating!

a reply to: Barcs

So prior to this amazing discovery
What did those scientists think?
That monkeys didn’t have something to wake them into consciousness from sleep, anethesia or unconsciousness
Did scientists originally think That no engine existed and it was magic they woke?
Or is the fascinating find that they found the “engine”

Seems underwhelming to me

Am I missing something?

a reply to: Barcs

bookmark, Thank you!

Ummmm....an engine is something that has to be started. Not something that does the starting.

Not everyone has the faculty to distinguish between ideas that exist solely in our mind, and facts that exist independent of our senses. Apparently this study took a major step toward isolating the highway that connects the realm of "self" and that of "other". Like realizing when you are asleep and purposely manipulating your psyche to explore the landscape of your own subconscious. Or, you know, hitting the eject button. A good example would be that moment in the movie Inception when the man realized he was not in fact in his own office, but merely experiencing a very clever simulation of it. But the analogy of an engine isnt quite accurate...what they are looking at is how the mind recognizes and navigates the murky terrain between "awake" and "asleep", like how does your car use GPS before the invention of satellites? Fascinating indeed.

Well, trees also have consciousness and they are really smart too. When I am talking to me they are polite and never interrupt me, they just sit there and listen and do not make a peep. They know I own a chainsaw and wouldn't want me to cut them down because they said something I might not like. Very inteligent life forms. Although if they don't talk to someone here on the site who hates mimes they might get punched in the face.

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
Ummmm....an engine is something that has to be started. Not something that does the starting.

The qoute says they found pathways for consciousness and a region that gets those pathways started : an engine.

Very interesting.

originally posted by: Raggedyman
a reply to: Barcs

So prior to this amazing discovery
What did those scientists think?
That monkeys didn’t have something to wake them into consciousness from sleep, anethesia or unconsciousness
Did scientists originally think That no engine existed and it was magic they woke?
Or is the fascinating find that they found the “engine”

Seems underwhelming to me

Am I missing something?

The fascinating part is that that found the region for consciousness and engine for consciousness if i read correctly.

Is finding out any scientific discovery underwhelming for you?

Just because we know living things have consciousness doesn't mean we understand how consciousness works.

Sounds like good news for neuroscience. Who knows what understanding the mechanisms of consciousness may lead to in the future!

originally posted by: blueman12

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
Ummmm....an engine is something that has to be started. Not something that does the starting.

The qoute says they found pathways for consciousness and a region that gets those pathways started : an engine.

Very interesting.

A region (area) that starts a pathway (channel) would be a door (portal). An engine generates motion, it does not provide steering or a map. You could think of it like a gun VS a rudder and a compass. An unconscious monkey is still in possession of its senses and general presence of mind, else it would be comatose. The "engine" is idling, so what controls are responsible for the journey from dreamland to the world of the living?

originally posted by: Raggedyman
a reply to: Barcs

So prior to this amazing discovery
What did those scientists think?
That monkeys didn’t have something to wake them into consciousness from sleep, anethesia or unconsciousness
Did scientists originally think That no engine existed and it was magic they woke?
Or is the fascinating find that they found the “engine”

Seems underwhelming to me

Am I missing something?

yes

I personally think consciousness is something that arises from our attempts to deal with the time lag between when something actually physically happens and the time we perceive it and make sense of it. We live in an existence where time not only seems to kind of "trail along" with us, but just doing nothing time still extends away from us with closer things being nearer in time to us and our existence and far away things also instantaneously far away from us in time. We have to do something to fill that gap, so we imagine "echoes" of reality in our heads. It's the echo that makes us conscious.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, trees also have consciousness and they are really smart too. When I am talking to me they are polite and never interrupt me, they just sit there and listen and do not make a peep. They know I own a chainsaw and wouldn't want me to cut them down because they said something I might not like.

Very inteligent life forms. Although if they don't talk to someone here on the site who hates mimes they might get punched in the face.

And happy, don't forget the trees are happy. Happy little trees!

When a monkey decides to go to Lowe's and purchase the materials to build a house, let me know.

originally posted by: Barcs
Fascinating!

Unless you're a Macacque perhaps.

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, trees also have consciousness and they are really smart too. When I am talking to me they are polite and never interrupt me, they just sit there and listen and do not make a peep. They know I own a chainsaw and wouldn't want me to cut them down because they said something I might not like.

Very inteligent life forms. Although if they don't talk to someone here on the site who hates mimes they might get punched in the face.

And happy, don't forget the trees are happy. Happy little trees!

When a monkey decides to go to Lowe's and purchase the materials to build a house, let me know.

I spent a lot of time in the lumber yards over the years, and I can tell you that there were a few people in there that were about as smart as monkeys. Nice people, but they weren't that smart. Some even looked like white bonobo monkeys.

I was a yard mouse for a while.

originally posted by: blueman12

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
Ummmm....an engine is something that has to be started. Not something that does the starting.

The qoute says they found pathways for consciousness and a region that gets those pathways started : an engine.

Very interesting.

An engine gets started by a starter. The engine can't start itself.

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, trees also have consciousness and they are really smart too. When I am talking to me they are polite and never interrupt me, they just sit there and listen and do not make a peep. They know I own a chainsaw and wouldn't want me to cut them down because they said something I might not like.

Very inteligent life forms. Although if they don't talk to someone here on the site who hates mimes they might get punched in the face.

And happy, don't forget the trees are happy. Happy little trees!

When a monkey decides to go to Lowe's and purchase the materials to build a house, let me know.

I spent a lot of time in the lumber yards over the years, and I can tell you that there were a few people in there that were about as smart as monkeys. Nice people, but they weren't that smart. Some even looked like white bonobo monkeys.

I was a yard mouse for a while.

True, I worked construction for a summer and saw the same.

a reply to: Barcs

Now that they know it works on monkees, this is just one step away from them installing those things in Congress. No napping until AOC or Pelosi has emptied their endless source of opinions, great ideas and all the things wrong with jobs jobs jobs...

a reply to: Barcs

Now that they know it works on monkees, this is just one step away from them installing those things in Congress. No napping until AOC or Pelosi has emptied their endless source of opinions, great ideas and all the things wrong with jobs jobs jobs...

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, trees also have consciousness and they are really smart too. When I am talking to me they are polite and never interrupt me, they just sit there and listen and do not make a peep. They know I own a chainsaw and wouldn't want me to cut them down because they said something I might not like.

Very inteligent life forms. Although if they don't talk to someone here on the site who hates mimes they might get punched in the face.

And happy, don't forget the trees are happy. Happy little trees!

When a monkey decides to go to Lowe's and purchase the materials to build a house, let me know.

I spent a lot of time in the lumber yards over the years, and I can tell you that there were a few people in there that were about as smart as monkeys. Nice people, but they weren't that smart. Some even looked like white bonobo monkeys.

I was a yard mouse for a while.

True, I worked construction for a summer and saw the same.

When you need someone to climb out on the trusses to nail the facia boards on or to nail the trusses down, those monkeys are really a godsend. I worked construction for many years, I am a licensed builder, I employed a few monkeys. They were funloving creatures, but you had to watch out if you gave them nailguns, they liked to shoot at targets with them....I think I have a little monkey in me.