The Believing Neuron pt. 5/17 | Theory: How to see the 3D way
“Consciousness is a transparent brain representation of the world from a privileged egocentric perspective.”Dr Arnold Trehub
a Theoretical Model of how we visualise 3D space
Figure 1. A. Non-conscious creatures. E1 and E2 are discrete events in the physical world. R1 and R2 are sensory transducers in the body that selectively respond to E1 and E2. R1 and R2 signal their response to unconscious processing mechanisms within the brain. These mechanisms then trigger adaptive actions. B. Conscious creatures. In addition to the mechanisms described in A, the brain of a conscious creature has a retinoid system that provides a holistic volumetric representation of a spatial surround from the privileged egocentric perspective of the self-locus — the core self (I!). For example, in this case, there is a perspectival representation of E1 and E2 (shown as E1′ and E2′) within the creature’s phenomenal world. Neuronal activity in retinoid space is the entire current content of conscious experience.
Retinoid ”self” System -
Figure 2. - The self system (Trehub 2007). Neurons at the self-locus anchor the I-token (I!) to the retinoid origin of egocentric space. I! has reciprocal synaptic links to sensory and cognitive processes. Damage to the neuronal mechanisms below the dotted line results in cognitive impairment. Interruption of the synaptic link between the neurons at the origin of retinoid space (the self locus) and I! results in loss of consciousness.
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DISCUSSION
For any instance of conscious content there is a corresponding analog in the biophysical state of the brain.
The objective, then, is to formulate brain mechanisms that can generate proper analogs of conscious content. Application of this bridging principle led to successful predictions about subjects’ conscious experiences in the SMTT experiment on the basis of the detailed structure and dynamics of the retinoid system. It should be added that there are many more previously puzzling subjective phenomena that are straightforwardly explained by the causal properties of the retinoid system, among them, the moon illusion, size constancy, and motion after-effects (see Trehub 1991, pp. 89-93 and pp. 239-255). A positive aspect of the retinoid theory, beside its explicit account of subjectivity and phenomenal consciousness, is its ability to explain human creativity on the basis of the normal operation of plausible brain mechanisms. This, together with the well founded supposition that the retinoid structure of the brain is an advanced evolutionary adaptation, adds credence to the theoretical model. Moreover, the implications of the retinoid model for understanding the source of our scientific concepts lends substance to the weak version of the anthropic principle (Barrow and Tipler 1986). In addition to extending the retinoid model and further testing its implications, one would want to see others pursue the scientific challenge of formulating an alternative testable model that can do a better job of explaining subjectivity and the brain mechanisms that present us with our phenomenal world.”
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