On the origins and evolution of qualia: An experience-space perspective

Abstract

This paper elaborates on a proposal for mapping a configuration space for selector circuits (SCs), defined as the subset of neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) responsible for evoking particular qualia, to its experiential counterpart, experience-space (E-space), as part of an investigation into the nature of conscious experience as it first emerged in evolution. The dimensionality of E-space, meaning the degrees of freedom required to specify the properties of related sets of qualia, is at least two, but the utility of E-space as a hypothetical construct is much enhanced by assuming it is a large dimensional space, with at least several times as many dimensions as there are categories of qualia to occupy them. Phenomenal consciousness can then be represented as having originated as one or more multidimensional ur-experiences that combined multiple forms of experience together. Taking this as a starting point, questions concerning evolutionary sequence can be addressed, including how the quale best suited to a given sensory modality would have been extracted by evolution from a larger set of possibilities, a process referred to here as dimensional sorting, and how phenomenal consciousness would have been experienced in its earliest manifestations. There is a further question as to whether the E-space formulation is meaningful in analytical terms or simply a descriptive device in graphical form, but in either case it provides a more systematic way of thinking about early stages in the evolution of consciousness than relying on narrative and conjecture alone.

Consciousness and its hard problems: separating the ontological from the evolutionary

“…This separates the issue of origins from that of elaboration and refinement, and for theories that deal with contents as separable and individually subject to selection, elaboration and refinement are inescapably matters to be dealt with in an evolutionary context. Previous papers in this series ( Lacalli, 2020 , 2021 , 2022b ) were in fact designed to do exactly this, adding, in the current installment, an investigation of how a link to behavior that embodies agency might first have evolved. Regardless of how difficult resolving such questions proves to be, they all belong to a category that Chalmers (1995 , 1996) treats as “easy” problems, as they fall within the bounds of established neuroscience and are soluble in principle using established or emerging methodologies given sufficient time ( Kostić, 2017 ; Kitchener and Hales, 2022 ).…”

“…This separates the issue of origins from that of elaboration and refinement, and for theories that deal with contents as separable and individually subject to selection, elaboration and refinement are inescapably matters to be dealt with in an evolutionary context. Previous papers in this series (Lacalli, 2020(Lacalli, , 2021(Lacalli, , 2022b were in fact designed to do exactly this, adding, in the current A schematic representation of how development and evolution work together to generate consciousness. Both real time (i.e., developmental) and evolutionary timescales must be included, and these are separable as shown.…”

Soulhacker: An artist-medical collaboration to treat depression via artistic virtual reality.

“…While evaluation of mood is generally done using semi structured self reporting on valence, arousal en control (dominance) the ultimate goal is to evolve toward a more objective direct analysis of mood as re ected in brain electrical activity (Apicella, A. et al, 2021). With that goal in mind, we collected besides the analog mood scores (SAM: Self assessment Manikin) also 19 In a recent study published in the journal Psychophysiology (2022), (Xu, X et al, 2022) quantitative EEG analysis techniques were applied to compare power spectral density and an increase of power in the beta band (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) in the parietal, occipital, and frontal lobes was identi ed. This was higher with 360° surround video immersion than with simple 2D VR screen watching.…”

“…Their measurement be it qualitatively versus quantitatively (indirect) is the mean toolkit that studies deploy to evaluate the clinical effect of different therapeutic strategies. (Lacalli T., 2022) Classical as well as a 3D self-assessment manikin scale (SAM) including arousal, valence and dominance (control) questionaries were taken from each volunteer before and after the VR experience.…”

What Current Theories of Consciousness are Missing

“…Underlying most current theories about the neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) is the assumption that fragments of conscious experience are coextensive with specific patterns of neuronal activity. The circuits that mediate this activity have variously been called 'cell assemblies' [1,2], 'structured neuronal groups' [3], or 'selector circuits' [4], among others, and are assumed to be local neuronal ensembles whose pattern of activity varies for different qualia or for diverse units of perception. These would be the elementary, or primary, NCCs.…”