Hallmarks of Consciousness

Abstract

Consciousness, ranging from the primary, or perceptual, level to high levels that include a sense of self, can be identified in various organisms by a set of hallmarks that include behavioral, neural and phenomenal and/or informational. Behavioral hallmarks include those that indicate high cognitive abilities, such behavioral flexibility, verbal abilities, episodic memories, theory of mind, object constancy, transitive inference and multistability, all of which have been demonstrated in birds as well as in primates. Neural hallmarks include the thalamocortical model for mammals and similar circuitry in some nonmammalian taxa. Informational hallmarks include sensorimotor awareness, as provided by somatosensory and/or lateral line systems, which may form the basis for the sense of self and distinguishing self from nonself, as well as other sensory information, such as the richness and quantity of color and form information obtained by the visual system. The comparative method reveals a correlation of these different types of hallmarks with each other in their degree of development, which thus may be indicative of the level of consciousness present in a particular species.

Consciousness in humans and non-human animals: recent advances and future directions

“…Examples include the presence of working memory, social learning, planning, and problem solving in birds (Pepperberg, 2006; Salwiczek et al, 2010), as well as the presence of rich behaviors, sophisticated learning and memory faculties in cephalopod mollusks such as the octopus (Edelman and Seth, 2009). Complex cognition may also correlates with the level of consciousness that can be achieved by an organism (e.g., Butler, 2012). Note that this is not contradictory with our previous statement that conscious perception may not be necessary for the operation of various complex cognitive processes.…”

The Mind-Evolution Problem: The Difficulty of Fitting Consciousness in an Evolutionary Framework

“…A critical and first step to the scientific study of animal consciousness is to constitute what he called “a practical definition of consciousness.” Griffin was one of the firsts to present a list of criteria that he believed are sufficient for consciousness. Following Griffin, many added, modified, and used such criteria in numerous publications to conclude on animal consciousness as well as on the evolution of consciousness (Edelman and Seth, 2009 ; Butler, 2012 ; Feinberg and Mallatt, 2016 ). Common to all these criteria is that they are based on human consciousness, either through introspection or through the modern study of human NCCs.…”

The Mind-Brain Relationship as a Mathematical Problem

“…Available evidence, however, is more specific than generically pointing to the brain as the most relevant organ of the body in relation to the mind. Particular regions of the brain are more directly and intimately involved with mental activity, including the thalamocortical system [25] and the hippocampal complex [26]. Other parts of the central nervous system, such as the cerebellum and the spinal cord, appear less pertinent to the declarative content of the mind.…”