The Consciousness

 1. The Consciousness

Everyone holds a different definition of consciousness, which is based on their beliefs. I want to define what consciousness is from my point of view to further propose my theory.

Consciousness is a dual process that switches on and off spontaneously, much like a continuous process. The dual processes are the input and output processes in the brain.

Units are everywhere –

Before we delve into the actual theory, let us understand what a unit is. A unit is a single neuron pathway that receives input and gives output, where many neurons accompany to create this pathway. Each impulse that triggers a neuron at the forefront/frontline of the system (i.e., the input neurons) will lead to an action potential that goes to the brain and comes back to the same input neuron, which was once triggered.

This returning mechanism is responsible for consciousness. Just think about it: when we visualize, hear, or sense anything, we come to know the event only when the impulse travels back to trigger the same previously activated input neuron cells. It is more like the output activating a specific input neuron at the frontline to give rise to thoughts or consciousness. 

Consciousness does not reside inside the brain; the brain merely acts as a vessel to store information in the form of dynamic systems (as explained in upcoming chapters). Instead, the frontline of the system is responsible for consciousness or thoughts. Does a neuron give both consciousness and thoughts at the same time separately, no it is improbable. Rather, consider it this way: the brain stores dynamic systems upon receiving input from various parts of the body. These dynamic systems, upon formation, produce output that triggers the frontline neurons. The importance placed on frontline neurons is because they are specific to inputs, being the only neuron type in the system that is specific to input information. When activated by inputs and re-activated by outputs, they give rise to consciousness and thoughts in humans. It happens like one process, the brain does not know whether it is helping with thoughts or consciousness, instead the brain neurons do its function based on the location it is present, type of cell structure it consists, and the intensity of the impulse that the neuron meant to receive. It is us who separated this process by giving names and definition.

The below picture gives simple visuals of the input from external source activating the input neurons, it is More like a ligand that binds with the specific receptor.

Frontline is full of units –

The frontline was filled with these units, which are information-specific and need to be activated. These units arrangement are the result of neurons property of getting activated by impulse. These arrangement helps in propagation of inputs impulse and correctly activating the frontline input neurons in case of output from the dynamic movements inside the brain. This arrangement favours/ helps the overall good working process of the brain, so it was considered in this theory.

There is a possibility of two things happening on the frontline: the impulse either predicts the next scene that is going to happen or triggers the same units that were present on the frontline. Here is the tricky part that our brain plays; it does both. The brain simultaneously makes predictions and activates units with existing knowledge. One dominates when the other relaxes, and vice versa (explained in the next topic).

A pictorial representation is provided below for understanding purposes. This now-and-then equilibrium is largely attained by the intensity of the newly entered inputs and the amount of output. It depends on the already stored information; if the information was well stored, there is higher output, and the prediction mechanism dominates, while the just-knowing mechanism is suppressed. These outputs come from the dynamic systems in our brain. In other words, just knowing mechanism helps much in consciousness experience that we humans get (these kinds of neurons are present like small units in the frontline input neuron they activate the other input neuron faster. E.g. our brain only does this for familiar information’s like just seeing the one half of image like our living house we can visualize the other half. Since they are mostly seen by our brain, there impulse do not have to go into brain. Small unit type neurons in the frontline input neuron can do this. Explained about this concept in more detail in last chapter under the name of wiggle connection.) and prediction mechanism is the result of output from the brain like formation of thoughts.

The on and off –

As you know, the brain must manage both mechanisms to maintain consciousness in the system. The question is: how does it do this? It all has to do with our exposure to inputs. When the inputs from the actual world decrease, the prediction mechanism dominates, and when the inputs from the actual world increase, the just-knowing mechanism dominates. The dominance of both mechanisms depends on the equilibrium between them. There is no specific agent that regulates this process; everything happens automatically based on the intensity of inputs from the actual world. When the inputs decrease from the actual world, remember that the information from the world is always present; instead, our frontline becomes saturated with the inputs. This saturation point causes frontline neurons to become unresponsive to the inputs. The saturation point is short-lived. This explains the spontaneous process of these two mechanisms in maintaining consciousness.

Since the information in the prediction mechanism comes from the brain, you know it is going to be stored and remembered by our brain. The information in the just-knowing mechanism will always be present, but we will not be aware of it; it will stay in the frontline forever or Not-stored if not used that information regularly. However, the information in the prediction mechanism will be stored in the form of a dynamic system that will be retrieved after receiving enough inputs to recreate the same dynamic systems. This explains why we assume that our thinking process (prediction mechanism) is the only one active, which is not the case. There happens to be the just-knowing mechanism that is active, but it was not stored, at least not in the brain.

These two mechanisms work simultaneously to maintain consciousness. You may be wondering how the prediction process is accomplished by the brain. It all has to do with the plasticity (repetition creates more connections) that was developed during our exposure to real-world inputs. Everyone knows that plasticity is when two or more connections get stronger; this is what we believed until now. But the most probable case is that plasticity occurs when a greater number of neurons align themselves upon being frequently activated by certain inputs. Remember, it is not the strongest connection but the highest number of neurons that is called plasticity.

The big picture –

Consciousness, as a dynamic process, involves numerous units (or "secondary rings") working together to transmit impulses and form a primary ring for storing information (consciousness as information).

All the senses inputs that we receive contribute significantly to maintaining consciousness. The awareness of oneself is largely delivered by the frontline neurons as they receive inputs and activate the same input neurons again, providing us with awareness. This process is akin to a runner who starts running around the track and returns to the same starting line to signal that they have finished the race.

The lower units (1° and 2°) are responsible for generating our consciousness (they are also called just-knowing mechanism). They constantly work to activate the frontline neurons, giving us the sensation of being conscious. Simultaneously, the impulses from the lower units travel upwards, where the storage and retrieval processes take place. In the lower units, the information is used to create consciousness, while in the upper units, this information is processed and analysed (prediction mechanism). If the information sent to the upper units is sufficient to activate a retrieval pattern for previously stored information, these details will primarily occupy the frontline neurons in the lower units, providing a visual representation of the stored information from your brain. Moreover, if the information sent to the upper units is new but related to already stored information, it will be stored alongside the existing information. When new information is analogous to existing information, it triggers the retrieval of old information. Over time, through repetition, this new information becomes similar-like input that contributes to the linearity of thoughts (refer to chapter-3’s linearity of thoughts). These newly stored pieces of information in the form of ring will store along with the large clusters of neurons in the form of ring. As you move higher in the brain, memories tend to be long-lived due to plasticity. Conversely, as you move lower, memories are short-lived because there is a lack of strength in plasticity, although not completely absent.

 

Inputs + frontline input neurons = consciousness

Inputs + frontline input neurons + Brains intricate framework (connectome) = thoughts and emotions.

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