"I think, therefore I am." This famous quote by René Descartes has shaped our understanding of the mind and consciousness since the 17th century. However, a groundbreaking neuroscientific study published in Nature suggests a radical shift in this perspective. The research indicates that consciousness may not stem from thought, but from bodily sensations.
This finding, if confirmed, could revolutionize not only philosophy but also medicine, particularly in how we care for patients in comas or with communication difficulties. The study involved a collaboration of 256 researchers from 12 international laboratories. They aimed to test two prominent theories of consciousness: the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT), which links consciousness to widespread information availability in the brain, and the Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which emphasizes the role of sensory information processing.
The researchers used various techniques, including EEG, fMRI, and MEG, to record brain activity while participants viewed simple images. The results revealed that activity related to consciousness was more pronounced in the posterior regions of the brain, specifically the visual cortex and sensory areas. This challenges the GNWT's focus on the prefrontal cortex. The study also showed that consciousness appears to be a continuous process, linked to sensory processing, rather than a sudden recognition "flash."
This shift in understanding has significant implications, especially in medical contexts. If consciousness is rooted in sensory experience, our methods of detecting it in others, such as comatose patients, need to be re-evaluated. Neuroscientist Christof Koch points out that a significant percentage of patients in these states die following a decision to end treatment. If consciousness can be better identified through sensory indicators, it could help avoid diagnostic errors.
While the study opens new avenues for understanding consciousness, some researchers caution that it may identify the conditions of consciousness but not consciousness itself. Nevertheless, the research suggests a more embodied, sensory, and perhaps more human approach to understanding the very essence of our being. Perhaps, instead of "I think, therefore I am," a new maxim for the 21st century could be: "I feel, therefore I am."