Volume 5 No 3 (2007)
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Difficulties with the Electromagnetic Field Theory of Consciousness: An Update
Susan Pocket
Abstract
Two previously identified difficulties with the electromagnetic field theory of
consciousness are discussed. The first difficulty is that, although spatiotemporal
electromagnetic patterns co-varying with conscious experiences have been
identified in rabbits and cats, no analogous patterns have yet been found in
humans. Evidence is cited that this is very likely because the relevant patterns
are inaccessible from the scalp. Recording from the surface of the human brain
will be necessary. Such electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings are feasible in
the context of localizing epileptogenic foci, but logistical difficulties have so far
prevented their being done with a view to identifying spatial patterns covarying with conscious sensations. The second difficulty is that, although
electromagnetic fields certainly can cause neural firing, the same mathematical
calculations that show the need for ECoG reveal that the spatial patterns
proposed as being conscious become unidentifiable such a short distance away
from their source that they are ill suited to causing behavior by activating
neurons in other areas of the brain. This difficulty is rendered unimportant by
an accumulation of empirical evidence that consciousness is actually not causal
for behavior. A number of philosophical objections to this evidence are
dissected. The conclusion is arrived at that the electromagnetic field theory of
consciousness is still very much alive and kicking.
Keywords
electromagnetic field, consciousness, mind-brain theory
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