Consciousness and neurosurgery.

Full Abstract

The neuronal basis of consciousness is the greatest challenge to the scientific worldview. Much relevant empirical work is carried out on the minimal neuronal mechanisms underlying any one specific conscious percept. Two broad approaches are popular among brain scientists: electrophysiological recordings from individual neurons in the cortex of behaving monkeys or behavior combined with functional brain imaging in humans. However, many aspects of consciousness are problematic or remain off-limits to the former approach, while the latter one lacks sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to monitor individual neurons that are key to perception, thought, memory, and action. It is here that neurosurgeons, probing the living human brain on a daily basis, can play a decisive role. This article explores the contributions of neurosurgeons to this quest and outlines some of the results that have already been achieved.

Author information

Author/s: Crick, Francis (F); Koch, Christof (C); Kreiman, Gabriel (G); Fried, Itzhak (I);

Affiliation: Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Neurosurgery (Neurosurgery), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2004-Aug; vol 55 (issue 2) : pp 273-281; discussion 281-2

Dates: Created 2004/07/23; Completed 2004/09/16; Revised 2006/08/18;

PMID: 15271233, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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