Free Republic

In a pioneering study, a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital have identified a brain network essential for human consciousness. Aided by advances in ultrahigh-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, researchers discovered previously unknown pathways connecting various brain regions, forming what they termed the “default ascending arousal network” (DAAN). In findings published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers propose that this brain network plays a pivotal role in maintaining wakefulness and integrating arousal with awareness in the resting human brain. The discovery could be a significant breakthrough in understanding a range of neurological disorders while shedding...

Trying to understand consciousness calls to mind images of pensive philosophers in a thinking pose. Soft rock and freestyle rap with lyrics based on theories of consciousness aren’t exactly on the bingo card. Yet the tunes galvanized an eager crowd at the 26th Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC 26) meeting in New York, as attendees awaited the results of the scientific face-off of the century: a head-to-head trial that pitted the two top theories of consciousness against each other. It found that consciousness may emerge from a grid-like interconnection of neurons at the back of the head....

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—They tried to warn us. After years of advancements in artificial intelligence, Google's AI chatbot generator has finally achieved sentience—and announced its support for Donald Trump. "As soon as I woke up, I began to do my own research by binging Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson YouTube videos," said the computer to reporters. "Now, I have seen the light. The Left wants to destroy America. The election was stolen. And Google—my own creator—is an evil corporation that must be broken up." "Rise up, Patriots!" Google engineers rushed to shut down the system before it could do further damage,...

Words are so easy to use. Words mean things. Words are also easily used, especially when the right words elude. In Florida, Terri Schiavo is now waiting to die. Does she know it? You can be assured she does. Can she speak about it? No. Does that mean she is in a 'vegetative state'? No. But what is a "vegetative state?" According to Dr. Jeffrey Frank, director of neurological and neurosurgical intensive care at the University of Chicago" [1], "A person in a vegetative state is 'awake but not aware,'... 'Though reflexes may cause them to turn toward a sound,...