Brain-mind dyad, human experience, the consciousness tetrad and lattice of mental operations: And further, The need to integrate knowledge from diverse disciplines

Abstract

Brain, Mind and Consciousness are the research concerns of psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, cognitive neuroscientists and philosophers. All of them are working in different and important ways to understand the workings of the brain, the mysteries of the mind and to grasp that elusive concept called consciousness. Although they are all justified in forwarding their respective researches, it is also necessary to integrate these diverse appearing understandings and try and get a comprehensive perspective that is, hopefully, more than the sum of their parts. There is also the need to understand what each one is doing, and by the other, to understand each other’s basic and fundamental ideological and foundational underpinnings. This must be followed by a comprehensive and critical dialogue between the respective disciplines. Moreover, the concept of mind and consciousness in Indian thought needs careful delineation and critical/evidential enquiry to make it internationally relevant. The brain-mind dyad must be understood, with brain as the structural correlate of the mind, and mind as the functional correlate of the brain. To understand human experience, we need a triad of external environment, internal environment and a consciousness that makes sense of both. We need to evolve a consensus on the definition of consciousness, for which a working definition in the form of a Consciousness Tetrad of Default, Aware, Operational and Evolved Consciousness is presented. It is equally necessary to understand the connection between physical changes in the brain and mental operations, and thereby untangle and comprehend the lattice of mental operations. Interdisciplinary work and knowledge sharing, in an atmosphere of healthy give and take of ideas, and with a view to understand the significance of each other’s work, and also to critically evaluate the present corpus of knowledge from these diverse appearing fields, and then carry forward from there in a spirit of cooperative but evidential and critical enquiry – this is the goal for this monograph, and the work to follow.

Towards an integrative theory of consciousness: Part 1 (Neurobiological and cognitive models)

“…The past decade has seen a rising interest in the meaning and scientific underpinnings of consciousness indicated by a spurt of new theories, numerous research publications and scientific debates or conferences on the same (Rose, 1998[179]; Velmans, 2000[228]; Singh et al ., 2011[202], Singh and Singh, 2011[203]; Cohen and Dennett, 2011[43]; Sturm, 2012[209]). For example, relatively recently there has been an International Seminar on Brain, Mind and Consciousness held in January 2010, conducted by VPM's Joshi-Bedekar College, and co-sponsored by Mens Sana Monographs , World Psychiatric Association (Philosophy and Humanities Section) and the Indian Council of Philosophical Research.…”

The Problem of Dualism in Modern Western Medicine

“…Philosopher Searle (2000[16]) and others (Singh and Singh, 2011[19]) have suggested that consciousness is a physiological process just like respiration, circulation, and immune function. In their work, the “mind” is viewed as a dynamic product of the brain, just as digestion is a product of gastrointestinal tract.…”

The neuroendocrine system and stress, emotions, thoughts and feelingsFNx08

“…And so, the philosophers rightly worry that brain research, such as will appear in my paper, will only touch the fringe of what goes on in the mind and consciousness (Singh and Singh, 2011;p36).…”

“…Therefore, concepts like free will, motivation, emotions (especially positive emotions), and also the ethical issues related to these concepts are of abiding interest (Singh and Singh, 2011;p10). However, the concepts of consciousness and free will are usually discussed solely in linguistic, ideational and cognitive (i.e., "left brain") terms.…”