Notes - on consciousness and the heart / Brothers 8 completed /

         Moving quickly towards dusk. You and Carol just returned from an early supper at Cracker Barrel; she had the trout and you the Sunday chicken. Before that you both watched most of the original Star Wars on Blu Ray and are enjoying it very much. The last time you saw the original together was in during its opening week in 1977. You are both impressed with Sony’s visuals and sound bar system. You had both forgotten fun little parts as the film progresses. Like Carol says, “They don’t make movies like this anymore.” – Amorella

         1657 hours. They don’t. There is a good mix of light humor stringing through the film – George Lucas in his youth. Earlier I was reading the newest Discover and discovered an article that I feel is quite significant. At first I found myself somewhat depressed by the implication, but as I have imagination, I have hope that science can take consciousness only so far. Here is the article.

** **

“The Brain’s Consciousness Kill Switch”

Researchers are able to turn consciousness on and off.

By Christie Aschwanden

In July, researchers reported a strange discovery that helped unlock one of the great mysteries of the mind: consciousness. Mohamad Koubeissi, a neurologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues were trying to identify seizure sources in an epileptic patient’s brain by electrically stimulating different regions. To the researchers’ surprise, the patient temporarily lost consciousness when they stimulated an area of the brain called the claustrum, located just below the cortex (the outer layer of the brain).

“It was striking,” Koubeissi says. “All cognition and awareness appeared to become paralyzed, with a complete return to the baseline once we turned the stimulation off.” He repeated the experiment at least 10 times, with the same result.

The finding is the first to support a theory proposed by DNA co-discoverer Francis Crick shortly before the neuroscientist’s death in 2004. He and colleague Christof Koch hypothesized that the claustrum is a “conductor of consciousness” that integrates our internal and external perceptions into coherent thoughts and ideas. If the claustrum’s role in consciousness is confirmed by other studies, it could lead to new ways to induce consciousness into people trapped in comas or persistent vegetative states.

From – Discover, Christie Aschwanden, “The Brain’s Kill Switch”, p. 69, January/February 2015

** **

         1736 hours. So, my assumption is that if the person is physically dead, then she or he has no sense of consciousness. If this is so then consciousness is solely a functioning agent for survival.

         This is not including the heartansoulanmind aspect, boy. In here, they are not the same thing as consciousness itself. The sensing the circadian rhythm is a form of consciousness, is it not? - Amorella

         1744 hours. I agree they are not the same thing but without consciousness how would the heartansoulanmind have access?

         They would appear not have any, at least the mind would not. In the Merlyn books it is suggested that the heart or spirit might make interpretations of consciousness on its own. – Amorella

         1749 hours. I will have to think on this some more. Later.

         Post, Amorella

         Evening. Carol is talking on the phone with her sister, Linda. You just completed ‘Brothers Eight’ but you should check the names of the grandchildren to make sure the names are correct. Later, dude. Post. – Amorella

         1853 hours. I feel better working on chapter eight. I still have a few things to straighten up in chapter seven. I’ll do that after eight is completed.

         As your daughter says, “Whatever works.” - Amorella