Consciousness is an ambiguous term. A problem while defining consciousness is the placement of boundaries within the total stream of thought. However, we can define it as the waking state, experience, and the possession of any mental state. Basically, a proposed functional definition of consciousness in terms of language is spoken or internal language that may potentiate goal-directed behavior.

Neuroscience and consciousness have a direct relation to psychology when explaining different concepts.

In this article, we will come to know how these two concepts explain each other. However, first, let’s define the two concepts separately.

What is Consciousness?

Basically, consciousness, in common language, means the state of being awake or aware. However, i is not an easy topic to understand, many of highly intelligent people spent their careers finding the meaning of this word. It is the thing that we all experience, but the concept is so hard to explain in words. Moreover, it is not a physical and visible thing that we can touch or hold in our hand.

Consciousness is a state of mind in which we can experience what is happening to us, our surroundings via complete mental awareness.

Basically, it is the fact of being awake or processing information. Many researchers proposed different theories to explain the idea of consciousness. First of all, it researchers believed it to be a manifestation of thoughts. Later on, they divided it into a discrete set of conscious entities and so on.

We can explain consciousness under the umbrella of two dimensions: global availability and self-monitoring.

Global availability shows a relationship between a cognitive system and a specific thought. Information that is conscious in this sense becomes globally available to the people, for example, we can recall it, act upon it, and speak about it.

The self-monitoring state is what psychologists call introspection or meta-cognition i.e. the internal representation of one’s own knowledge. In this state, the cognitive system is being able to monitor its own processing and gain information about itself.

Our consciousness is a fundamental aspect of our awareness. There is nothing we know more about, but at the same time, it is the most mysterious phenomenon of the universe. Without consciousness, we all act like zombies with no curiosity and zero realization. It is the door through which we step into the world of understanding.







What is Neuropsychology?

The mysteries of the brain never touch a decisive solution. From the last decade with an emergence of this new field, these mysteries are taken seriously. Basically,

Neuropsychology is a branch of clinical psychology that studies how our brain and nervous system affect our functions on daily basis.

Moreover, Neuropsychology opens the door to understanding how various components of the brain are able to perform their jobs.

Clinical neuropsychology makes use of various assessment methods to discover function and dysfunction of the brain. This knowledge is then applied to evaluate, treat and rehabilitate individuals with suspected or demonstrated neurological or psychological disorders.

The field of neuropsychology is that field which significantly contributes to our knowledge and understanding of our brain. Neuropsychology studies different subject matters that are individuals with brain injuries resulting from war, accidents, or conditions such as stroke or Parkinson’s disease. Some subjects have developmental disorders that prevent normal brain functioning, often interfering with learning or other behaviors.

Neuropsychology consists of two main areas: clinical neuropsychology and cognitive neuropsychology.

Clinical Neuropsychology is applied in healthcare settings, for assessing and treating patients in cases of head injury, stroke, or other neurological disorders.

Cognitive Neuropsychology is working for public and private research institutions conducting empirical research on those with brain function deficits.

This helps us understand the relationship between the physical brain and human behavior. Problems in the brain can affect behavior, cognition and everyday functioning. A neuropsychologist can easily understand how the brain structures and systems relate to behavior and thinking.







What does Neuropsychology tell us about Consciousness?

Neuropsychology drives us to the fact that conscious experience expresses information that is available for global, integrated, and flexible behavior.

Neuropsychology is shaping our understanding of the neural basis of consciousness and the self. It also studies a range of closely related psychological processes such as executive functions, memory, and language.

Basically, Neuropsychological research into components and processes of consciousness emphasizes on consciousness in the sense of awareness, wakefulness, and control of overt behavior. The study of consciousness has long been removed from serious consideration within psychology and the neurosciences, but this field is gaining attraction once again.

There are some neurological disorders that are associated with consciousness, which can be divided into two dimensions:

The most severe neurological disorders of consciousness are coma, the vegetative state, and the minimally conscious state, which involves a complete loss of consciousness. Other neurological disorders include localized brain damage that can lead to specific disturbances of conscious experience, depending on where the damage exists.

Psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and depersonalization can also be considered as arising from disruptions in the brain mechanisms because of normal conscious perception. Any condition that involves a sudden or slow change in the way we experience the world or ourselves can be addressed from the perspective of consciousness science.

Consciousness and Neuroscience

Consciousness is different from neuroscience in a way that studying consciousness is both a broader and a narrower concept than neuroscience in general.

Broader, in which a singular focus on brain mechanisms neglects the essential contributions of other disciplines to what is ultimately a question about the human condition.

Narrower, such that a lot of the brain does seem to unfold independently of consciousness or is at least highly indirectly related. For example, the cerebellum (while crucial for many cognitive and motor functions seems to have little to do with consciousness.

All in all, Neuropsychology tells us about the role of consciousness which serves to group disparate features into coherent wholes. This conclusion has been reached by different researchers working under different theoretical presuppositions. There is some neurological phenomenon which at first appear to oppose this “several independent circuits” theory of consciousness. But these visible contradictions result from a failure to appreciate the self-organizing nature of the brain function. Consciousness is one part of the self-structuring process of the brain, thus it does not stand outside this self-structuring process.

Cognitive neuropsychology has been founded on the assumptions that normal and disordered cognition are each best understood in relation to each other. One of the clearest examples of how neuropsychological impairment can illuminate our understanding of normal cognition is in the area of consciousness.

References

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Dehaene. S, Lau. H, Kouider. S. (2017, October 27). What is consciousness, and could machines have it? Retrieved from http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6362/486.full

Hirschman. D. (2017). What Is Consciousness? Retrieved from http://bigthink.com/going-mental/what-is-consciousness

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