THE BRAIN, MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS
“No argument is needed to show what transforming power the mind can exert. The energy set free by the magic agencies of hope, courage, desperation, fanaticism, or by enthusiasm for a great cause, may reveal the possession of a force undreamed of the body as to keep the flame burning for a time when the oil is exhausted.” – James J. Putnam (1899)
Ever since my medical school years, I have been fascinated with the workings of the human brain. I wonder how our brain, as a neuro-anatomical and physical organ, can create very abstract and difficult to understand non-physical essences like mind and consciousness, and other higher mental faculties.
Our brain contain contains about 86 billion specific nerve cells (neurons), and 100 trillion synaptic connections between nerve cells for nerve conduction and communication among specific groups of nerve cells, called connectomes, with electrical potential, neuropeptides molecules and hormones, thereby creating mind, consciousness, and higher mental faculties.
Furthermore, our brain is the commander-in-chief and the automatic pilot for every other organ in our body, regardless of mind and consciousness, to make sure they work with necessary pace and under any circumstances whether we are conscious or not, to maintain life.
Additionally, our brain determines our gender identity which may contradict our predetermined anatomical gender identity.
To me, the human brain remains the most elusive, mysterious and complex neuro-anatomical and functional organ.
How does one define mind and consciousness? Are they the same? Can they be used interchangeably? Is there an unconscious mind? What happens to the mind when we sleep or go under anesthesia? What are the mind and consciousness made?
I do not know the answers to these questions. As I understand it from my studies and reading, the brain creates the mind, and the mind creates consciousness as its main working mechanism through which all other mental faculties are created, according to neuroscientists.
The mind can be defined as the entire set of operations of the brain, and consciousness is an integral part of the mind. There can be no mind without consciousness.
Consciousness, on the other hand, can be defined as the state of awareness of things in our living environment through our senses. We receive different stimuli from the physical world through the receptor cells of our senses which are translated by our brain into sensations and subjective experiences.
Traditionally scholars assumed that something as amorphous and mysterious as the mind and consciousness, it is impossible to understand and explain them scientifically.
But advancements in science and technology, discovered novel research methods and scientific discovery in many different fields of medicine like cell biology, functional MRI (fMRI) of the brain’s activities, cognitive psychology, system neural science, computer and AI technology, made it possible to study may brain functions which is called cognitive neural science to identify neural biological mechanisms of mind, consciousness and other brain functions. Some scientists believe that every conscious experience is associated with the activity of certain neurons.
There are two prominent theories of consciousness: The Global Workplace Theory, and The Integrated Information Theory.
I shall leave the scientific discussions on the subject to the pundits, and would like to mention two books that helped me to understand the subject matter better:
1 – The Emperor’s New Mind: Concerning Computer, Mind and the Law of Physics by Sir. Roger Penrose.
2 – Rethinking Consciousness by Michael S.A. Graziano.
