I thought this video was very interesting. People are self-aware, but where in the body does "i" live? Thats a question that people have been wondering for thousands of years. Marcus' s study covered a lot of different topics involving this question. He started by going to a doctor from Oxford who ran tests on his brain when he is under going sedation from anesthetics. He was told to imagine playing tennis while he is being injected with these imperative drugs. The doctor wanted to find the point where Marcus is still self-aware and he would b focusing on the area's of the brain that are still functioning under this heavy sedation. This, theoretically, should point us in the direction of which area of the brain our soul resides. They found that there is a "resonant loop" between the Thalamus and Basil Ganglia that is required to maintain consciousness. The doctor didn't say that this is where the consciousness resides, but it is one of the main components in being self-aware.
Marcus de Sautoy - human guinea pig
That is really interesting! I've always wondered that myself, but I wonder. Did they only do the tests while imagining playing tennis? Perhaps he might have had different results if he had to take some sort of test while this happened, or if he had to remember and recall in detail a specific event, as we've already learned these each reside in different parts of the brain. It would be very interesting to investigate this further.
This is an intriguing subject. The approach that this doctor took is a little odd I think, but it might work.
Its kind of interesting how this progressed throughout history. The Egyptians thought that our heart was our dominant organ that contained our consciousness and whatnot. Even now we still slightly follow that belief with sayings like "listen to your heart."
I wonder if we can truly isolate the self-awareness area in the brain, or maybe its multiple components in different areas of the brain.
Either way, this is definitely something I want to know more about.