?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Single-Neuron+Theory+of+Consciousness&rft.creator=Sevush%2C+Steven&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.subject=Behavioral+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Theoretical+Biology&rft.description=+++++By+most+accounts%2C+the+mind+arises+from+the+integrated+activity+of+large+populations+of+neurons+distributed+across+multiple+brain+regions.++A+contrasting+model+is+presented+in+the+present+paper+that+places+the+mind%2Fbrain+interface+not+at+the+whole+brain+level+but+at+the+level+of+single+neurons.++Specifically%2C+it+is+proposed+that+each+neuron+in+the+nervous+system+is+independently+conscious%2C+with+conscious+content+corresponding+to+the+spatial+pattern+of+a+portion+of+that+neuron's+dendritic+electrical+activity.++For+most+neurons%2C+such+as+those+in+the+hypothalamus+or+posterior+sensory+cortices%2C+the+conscious+activity+would+be+assumed+to+be+simple+and+unable+to+directly+affect+the+organism's+macroscopic+conscious+behavior.++For+a+subpopulation+of+layer+5+pyramidal+neurons+in+the+lateral+prefrontal+cortices%2C+however%2C+an+arrangement+is+proposed+to+be+present+such+that%2C+at+any+given+moment%3A++i)+the+spatial+pattern+of+electrical+activity+in+a+portion+of+the+dendritic+tree+of+each+neuron+in+the+subpopulation+individually+manifests+a+complexity+and+diversity+sufficient+to+account+for+the+complexity+and+diversity+of+conscious+experience%3B+ii)+the+dendritic+trees+of+the+neurons+in+the+subpopulation+all+contain+similar+spatial+electrical+patterns%3B+iii)+the+spatial+electrical+pattern+in+the+dendritic+tree+of+each+neuron+interacts+nonlinearly+with+the+remaining+ambient+dendritic+electrical+activity+to+determine+the+neuron's+overall+axonal+response%3B+iv)+the+dendritic+spatial+pattern+is+reexpressed+at+the+population+level+by+the+spatial+pattern+exhibited+by+a+synchronously+firing+subgroup+of+the+conscious+neurons%2C+thereby+providing+a+mechanism+by+which+conscious+activity+at+the+neuronal+level+can+influence+overall+behavior.++The+resulting+scheme+is+one+in+which+conscious+behavior+appears+to+be+the+product+of+a+single+macroscopic+mind%2C+but+is+actually+the+integrated+output+of+a+chorus+of+minds%2C+each+associated+with+a+different+neuron.&rft.date=2005-06&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4432%2F1%2Fsingle_neuron_theory.htm&rft.identifier=++Sevush%2C+Steven++(2005)+Single-Neuron+Theory+of+Consciousness.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4432%2F