The neural circuits of consciousness

Author: Carmen Cavada
Date of publication: Pamplona, 16 October 2012

The speaker is Professor of Human Anatomy and Neuroscience at the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Madrid, Director of the department of Anatomy, Histology and Neuroscience of the Autonomous and administrative assistant of the committee Spanish Brain . She has also been President of the Spanish Society of NeuroScience until 2011.
The presentation deals with the brain centres and circuits involved in various aspects of consciousness, specifically: 1) consciousness as a physiological state, 2) consciousness of the world, and 3) consciousness of oneself. The concepts and nerve centres involved in "nuclear consciousness", relating to awareness of the world and oneself in the present, and in "extended consciousness", which includes knowledge of the world, autobiographical experiences and conceptions of the future, are presented.