Certainly we need to have some kind of description of what is a "healthy psyche" before we can deal with pathological states. Still, I imagine there must be limits to what a "second-hand," after-the-fact read out of brain activity can tell us about what is really going on in the brain, and how consciousness fits into the brain picture.
We really are dealing with a mystery here, IMHO. But I imagine we humans will get to the bottom of it, in due course! I think Walker is right: We can't abandon the scientific approach to the solution of these problems, for in this case, philosophy's tools really aren't sharp enough for the kind of precision we need -- yet perhaps can afford some useful insights about the direction in which science ought to go.... :^)
Thanks so much for writing, A-G! Hugs girl!
The prior link actually takes a position that sounds a lot like my "the brain is a transmitter/receiver for the spirit" view. To follow the analogy, an alien could learn a lot about a transmitter/receiver but unless he knew to study the radio waves, he might falsely assume it was all happening inside the box. LOL!