Fans and critics of globalist theories.

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Beyond "dichotomania" --- Conscious
information flows from sensory regions to both
- contextual self-systems and - multiple
memory systems.
Bernard J. Baars
This powerpoint is freely available for
educational use, from www. bernardbaars.pbwiki
.com Baars, 1988, fundamental book on Global
Workspace Theory is free at www.
Nsi.edu/users/baars
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Is consciousness global or local? It's both!
Izhikevich et al, 2007
from Baars, 1983, 1988, 1997, 2002
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Is consciousness global or local? It's both!
Massive unconscious parallelism
Limited conscious contents at any moment
From Baars Gage, Cognition, Brain
Consciousness. Elsevier/ AP, 2007. Based on K.
Friston, 1994. (_at_ Elsevier)
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Conscious vs. unconscious visual input at the
same moment.
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Locally your brain shows more intense activity
for conscious compared to unconscious visual
input.
Faces FFA Houses PPA
fMRI signal increases when an image is
conscious, decreases when not conscious.
Frank Tong, 1998
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But conscious input also goes beyond the visual
cortex --- as shown in multiple studies.

• Conscious words activated visual cortex plus
  wider regions in parietal and frontal cortex, at
  high levels of activity.
• Visual cortex input
• Masked (invisible) words activated word
  recognition regions of visual cortex, at lower
  levels of activity.
• Dehaene et al. (2001).

Conscious Non-conscious
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In the Theater of Consciousness - a useful
theoretical metaphor
--- only the bright spot on stage is conscious
(consciousness is very limited in capacity) ---
sensory inputs compete for access to the
conscious bright spot --- the "stage"
corresponds to Working Memory --- all other
features as unconscious, including long-term
memory, the automatic processes of language, and
the events going on backstage -- the theater
metaphor has been turned into several testable
models.
From Carl Carpenter, A New Model of
Consciousness, Sci Con Rev.2006.
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Backstage is unconscious - director (self) -
stage hands (contexts) - script writer -
waiting actors
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Backstage is unconscious
Unconscious audience
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Conscious contents are made available "backstage"
--- to unconscious contexts, including self
(executive) systems.

• Executives

• Backstage - Preparing to go onstage

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Where are "backstage" unconscious contextual
systems located in the brain?
Prefontal ego functions (also unconscious)
(Injury to Phineas Gage, reconstructed by
Hannah Damasio).
Parietal egocentric maps (unconscious) - (Tutis
Villis)
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So --- where does conscious information flow to?
Conscious visual input flows freely to parietal
(egocentric maps) and frontal lobes (for
ego-functions - like saying "yes, I see it!").
Unconscious visual input does not flow as freely,
or as resonantly, to frontoparietal areas.
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So --- where does conscious information flow to?
Conscious visual input flows freely to parietal
(egocentric maps) and frontal lobes (for
ego-functions - like saying "yes, I see it!") Co
Unconscious visual input does not flow as freely,
or as resonantly, to frontoparietal areas.
Del Cul Deheane, 200x
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Conscious input is also turned into longterm
memory traces --- via hippocampal-neocortical
distribution.
Conscious visual input flows freely through the
Hippocampal Complex) to be encoded in multiple
distributed traces in neocortex. (Traces are
unconscious) This allows neocortex to
constantly learn and update itself with novel and
significant information. (Nadel Moscovitch -
Multiple Trace Theory. Figure from M. Moscovitch,
personal comm. )
Hippocampal Complex
Conscious episodes
"Episodic memory" memory for conscious
episodes HC Hippocampal Complex, medial
temporal lobe
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Conscious input is also turned into longterm
memory traces --- via hippocampal-neocortical
distribution.
Hippocampal connections to neocortex --- huge
distribution. This allows neocortex to
constantly learn and update itself with novel and
significant conscious information. (Nadel
Moscovitch - Multiple Trace Theory. Figure from
M. Moscovitch, personal comm. )
"Episodic memory" memory for conscious
episodes The Hippocampal Complex includes
neighboring regions in the medial temporal lobe.
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Globalist theories include.

• Neural Darwinism (Edelman et al)
• Complexity Theory (Tononi et al)
• W.J. Freeman's "movie shutter at alpha-theta
  rate."
• S. Dehaene et al, "Neuronal Global Workspace
  theory."
• Baars and coworkers (Franklin, Shanahan, To
  keNewman, etc.)
• Similar proposals by Daniel Schacter, Walter
  Schneider, JR Anderson, HA Simon, A. Newell,
  Allan Baddeley, Karl Pribram, E.R. John, M.S.
  Gazzaniga, van de Velde de Kamp, and others.

None of these theories deny local-regional
activity to support focal conscious contents.
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Summary.
Let's not be "dichotomaniacs" Conscious
activity involves both local activity and very
widespread (globally distributed) activity.
(Unconscious - but often evokes new conscious
activity) Conscious input triggers episodic and
semantic learning, via hippocampal-neocortical
'broadcasting'. Conscious input also triggers
contextual adaptation from egocentric maps
frontal executive systems. (Including ego
functions, motivation emotions.)
Conscious episodes
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Slides are freely available for educational use
from www.bernardbaars.pbwiki.com
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With gratitude to .
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Slides are freely available for educational use
from www.bernardbaars.pbwiki.com