Consciousness and neuroscience

Abstract

When all's said and done, more is said than done. (Anon.)The main purposes of this review are to set out for neuroscientists one possible approach to the problem of consciousness and to describe the relevant ongoing experimental work.We have not attempted an exhaustive review of other approaches. Clearing the GroundWe assume that when people talk about 'consciousness', there is something to be explained.While most neuroscientists acknowledge that consciousness exists, and that at present it is something of a mystery, most of them do not attempt to study it, mainly for one of two reasons: Visual ConsciousnessHow can one approach consciousness in a scientific manner?Consciousness takes many forms, but for an initial scientific attack it usually pays to concentrate on the form that appears easiest to study.We chose visual consciousness rather than other forms, because humans are very visual animals and our visual percepts are especially vivid and rich in information.In addition, the visual input is often highly structured yet easy to control.The visual system has another advantage.There are many experiments that, for ethical reasons, cannot be done on humans but can be done on animals.Fortunately, the visual system of