Homing in on consciousness in the nervous system: An action-based synthesis

Abstract

Abstract:What is the primary function of consciousness in the nervous system? The answer to this question remains enigmatic, not so much because of a lack of relevant data, but because of the lack of a conceptual framework with which to interpret the data. To this end, we have developed Passive Frame Theory, an internally coherent framework that, from an action-based perspective, synthesizes empirically supported hypotheses from diverse fields of investigation. The theory proposes that the primary function of consciousness is well-circumscribed, serving the somatic nervous system. For this system, consciousness serves as a frame that constrains and directs skeletal muscle output, thereby yielding adaptive behavior. The mechanism by which consciousness achieves this is more counterintuitive, passive, and "low level" than the kinds of functions that theorists have previously attributed to consciousness. Passive frame theory begins to illuminate (a) what consciousness contributes to nervous function, (b) how consciousness achieves this function, and (c) the neuroanatomical substrates of conscious processes. Our untraditional, action-based perspective focuses on olfaction instead of on vision and is descriptive (describing the products of nature as they evolved to be) rather than normative (construing processes in terms of how they should function). Passive frame theory begins to isolate the neuroanatomical, cognitivemechanistic, and representational (e.g., conscious contents) processes associated with consciousness.

Fatigue Induced by Physical and Mental Exertion Increases Perception of Effort and Impairs Subsequent Endurance Performance

“…As prolonged neural activity has been shown in animal studies to increase extracellular concentrations of adenosine (Lovatt et al, 2012), an increase in extracellular concentrations of adenosine caused by prior physical exertion could be a good candidate to explain the increased perceived exertion caused by fatigue of a muscle group non-involved in subsequent endurance exercise. This hypothesis has also been proposed to explain the increased perceived exertion caused by prior mental exertion (Pageaux et al, 2014, 2015b), and find additional support with (i) studies demonstrating a positive impact of caffeine (i.e., an antagonist of adenosine) ingestion on physical and cognitive performances (McLellan et al, 2016); and (ii) recent experimental evidence demonstrating the involvement of premotor and motor areas in cognition and decision-making process (Morsella et al, 2015; Ramkumar et al, 2016; Tomasino and Gremese, 2016). Therefore, future studies should investigate the underlying mechanisms responsible of the increased perception of effort during exercise and caused by prior physical and mental exertion.…”

Synthetic consciousness: the distributed adaptive control perspective

“…Damasio has recently advanced a similar proposal suggesting that consciousness requires representations of self to enter into memory, essentially creating an s1PP [40]. A further variation on the role of embodiment in the nature of consciousness is the passive frame theory of Morsella that ascribes to consciousness the central role of facilitating the control of the skeletal-muscle system [41]. Challenges to this perspective are cases where embodiment is disrupted as in locked-in syndrome, phantom limb pain or for subjects born without limbs who yet experience them [42].…”

EEG Correlates of Involuntary Cognitions in the Reflexive Imagery Task

“…Upon awakening during the middle of the night, the eyes open and one immediately experiences percepts and urges -the sight of a nightstand, the sound of a clock, and the urge to cover oneself with a blanket. This event, in which conscious contents 1 "just happen" to an observer (Morsella et al, 2016), illustrates what usually occurs in everyday life, when the conscious contents composing the conscious field arise effortlessly, passively, and involuntarily (Morsella et al, 2016). Experiments on perception (e.g., Allen et al, 2016;Firestone and Scholl, 2016) reveal that entry into consciousness of this nature ("involuntary entry, " for short) is influenced by many factors 2 .…”

“…The RIT (see review in Bhangal et al, 2016b) focuses on the factors influencing stimulus-elicited involuntary entry, a form of entry that can be time-locked to a stimulus and is experimentally tractable. Stimulus-elicited involuntary entry can be of urges (Morsella et al, 2009a(Morsella et al, , 2016, percepts (Allen et al, 2016), or even high-level cognitions (Cho et al, 2016). The RIT is based on a rich research tradition, which includes the early experimental approaches of Ach (1905Ach ( /1951, Eriksen and Eriksen (1974), Stroop (1935), and the work of Wegner (1989) and Gollwitzer (1999).…”