Noise in the brain, decision-making, determinism, free will, and consciousness
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Edmund T. Rolls
Abstract
Noise caused by randomness in the spiking times of neurons in the brain has a number of advantages, including contributing to probabilistic decision-making. However, noise results in the brain operating effectively as a non-deterministic system, which has implications for free will. Noise also results in decisions being taken probabilistically between the reasoning system and the implicit reward system. I propose that free will can be used to describe the operation of the reasoning system, and that consciousness is a property of a reasoning system that must use higher order syntactic thoughts (HOSTs) to correct its first order thoughts. When the implicit system takes a decision, we may confabulate a reason for the decision, and in that case the feeling of free will may be an illusion.
Abstract
Noise caused by randomness in the spiking times of neurons in the brain has a number of advantages, including contributing to probabilistic decision-making. However, noise results in the brain operating effectively as a non-deterministic system, which has implications for free will. Noise also results in decisions being taken probabilistically between the reasoning system and the implicit reward system. I propose that free will can be used to describe the operation of the reasoning system, and that consciousness is a property of a reasoning system that must use higher order syntactic thoughts (HOSTs) to correct its first order thoughts. When the implicit system takes a decision, we may confabulate a reason for the decision, and in that case the feeling of free will may be an illusion.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Prologue xiii
- Poem xxv
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Section I. Neuronal mechanisms
- The slow cortical potential hypothesis on consciousness 3
- Distinct characteristics of conscious experience are met by large-scale neuronal synchronization 17
- Gamma oscillations and the cellular components of consciousness? 29
- Dopamine modulation of decision making processes 39
- Undercurrents of consciousness 53
- Disconnecting consciousness 65
- Consciousness and neural time travel 73
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Section II. Psychological processes
- Consciousness and the relation between implicit and explicit memory 83
- Two varieties of unconscious processes 91
- Operating characteristics and awareness 103
- Noise in the brain, decision-making, determinism, free will, and consciousness 113
- Social consciousness 121
- Consciousness and language 129
- Cognitive illusions 139
- Dreaming as a model system for consciousness research 149
- Lucid dreaming and the bimodality of consciousness 155
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Section III. Psychopathologies and therapies
- Why depression feels bad 169
- Dementia and the boundary between conscious and nonconscious awareness 179
- Consciousness as the spin-off and schizophrenia as the price of language 187
- Consciousness and psychosis associated with schizophrenia 201
- The visual unconscious 215
- Believing is hearing is believing 227
- Dreaming as a physiological psychosis 239
- Conscious awareness versus optimistic beliefs in recreational Ecstasy/MDMA users 249
- Conscious and unconscious placebo responses 259
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Section IV. Expanding boundaries
- The paradoxes of creativity 271
- Potential contributions of research on meditation to the neuroscience of consciousness 281
- Self-induced altered states of consciousness 289
- Beyond the boundaries of the brain 301
- Plants of the gods and shamanic journeys 309
- Index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Prologue xiii
- Poem xxv
-
Section I. Neuronal mechanisms
- The slow cortical potential hypothesis on consciousness 3
- Distinct characteristics of conscious experience are met by large-scale neuronal synchronization 17
- Gamma oscillations and the cellular components of consciousness? 29
- Dopamine modulation of decision making processes 39
- Undercurrents of consciousness 53
- Disconnecting consciousness 65
- Consciousness and neural time travel 73
-
Section II. Psychological processes
- Consciousness and the relation between implicit and explicit memory 83
- Two varieties of unconscious processes 91
- Operating characteristics and awareness 103
- Noise in the brain, decision-making, determinism, free will, and consciousness 113
- Social consciousness 121
- Consciousness and language 129
- Cognitive illusions 139
- Dreaming as a model system for consciousness research 149
- Lucid dreaming and the bimodality of consciousness 155
-
Section III. Psychopathologies and therapies
- Why depression feels bad 169
- Dementia and the boundary between conscious and nonconscious awareness 179
- Consciousness as the spin-off and schizophrenia as the price of language 187
- Consciousness and psychosis associated with schizophrenia 201
- The visual unconscious 215
- Believing is hearing is believing 227
- Dreaming as a physiological psychosis 239
- Conscious awareness versus optimistic beliefs in recreational Ecstasy/MDMA users 249
- Conscious and unconscious placebo responses 259
-
Section IV. Expanding boundaries
- The paradoxes of creativity 271
- Potential contributions of research on meditation to the neuroscience of consciousness 281
- Self-induced altered states of consciousness 289
- Beyond the boundaries of the brain 301
- Plants of the gods and shamanic journeys 309
- Index 325
