Open Questions: Consciousness

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Introduction


Recommended references: Web sites

Recommended references: Magazine/journal articles

Recommended references: Books

Introduction



Recommended references: Web sites

Site indexes

Open Directory Project: Consciousness Studies
Categorized and annotated links. A version of this list is at Google, with entries sorted in "page rank" order. May also be found at Netscape.
Links on Consciousness, Mind, and Cognition
By Nigel J. T. Thomas.
CogSci World - Consciousness
Annotated list of links by Henrik Gelius.
Galaxy: Consciousness Studies
Categorized site directory. Entries usually include descriptive annotations.


Sites with general resources

David Chalmers' Home Page
Chalmers is a philosopher working especially in the philosophy of mind. He has written extensively on consciousness, and his site contains a great deal of relevant material on the subject, including a very large list of links to online papers on consciousnes. There is also a very good bibliography of scientific studies of consciousness.


Surveys, overviews, tutorials

Coming to Attention
July 2006 Scientific American Sidebar, subtitled "How the brain decides what to focus conscious attention on."
Why great minds can't grasp consciousness
August 2005 article that discusses the possibility of a science of consciousness.
The Movie in Your Head
September 2005 Scientific American sidebar, by Christof Koch, subtitled "Is consciousness a seamless experience or a string of fleeting images, like frames of a movie? The emerging answer will determine whether the way we perceive the world is illusory."
The Quest to Find Consciousness
January 2004 Scientific American Sidebar, subtitled "By studying the brain's physical processes, scientists are seeking clues about how the subjective inner life of the mind arises."
Side Splitting
January 2001 Scientific American article, subtitled "Jokes, ice water and magnetism can change your view of the world--literally." It suggests that the brain sometimes constructs alternative representations that then compete for conscious attention.
A Mind for Consciousness
July 2001 Scientific American Profile article about consciousness-researcher Christof Koch of Caltech.
Crick's Treatment of Consciousness
Critique of Crick's The Astonishing Hypothesis, by Yehouda Harpaz.


Recommended references: Magazine/journal articles

Spreading Consciousness
Bruce Bower
Science News, October 19, 2002, pp. 251-252
A statistical analysis of data from functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of the brain may be telling us something about consciousness as a process that involves the whole brain.
[References]
Linking Mind to Brain: The Mathematics of Biological Intelligence
Stephen Grossberg
Notices of the AMS, December 2000, pp. 1361-1372
The question of how the brain gives rise to the mind may now be within reach of mathematical modeling. There are now mathematical models of brain function that can quantitatively simulate observed dynamics of cells in brain circuitry.
[Article in PDF format]
Do You See What They See?
Brad Lemley
Discover, December 1999, pp. 80-87
Synesthesia is a rare trait which mixes sensory experience in some people, enabling them to see sounds, smeall colors, and taste shapes. Study of synesthesia may tell us a lot about "ordinary" consciousness.
How the Brain Creates the Mind
Antonio R. Damasio
Scientific American, December 1999, pp. 112-117
Neuroscience is finally beginning to clarify how consciousness -- the sense of self -- arises from the function of specific portions of the brain.
Vision: A Window on Consciousness
Nikos K. Logothetis
Scientific American, November 1999, pp. 68-75
The study of visual illusions can help understand the neural mechanisms of consciousness
The Puzzle of Conscious Experience
David J. Chalmers
Scientific American, December 1995, pp. 80-86
In recent years neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers have increasingly regarded consciousness as a phenomenon that might be amenable to better explanation. The author, nevertheless, believes that the question of how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience remains a hard problem.
Can Science Explain Consciousness?
John Horgan
Scientific American, July 1994, pp. 88-94
Whether science can ever hope to "explain" consciousness is hotly debated. Opinions range from a certainty that neurobiology can do it to the belief that consciousness is a mystery too profound even for philosophy.


Recommended references: Books


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